by Paige Curtin
Hey. Stuff like, sucks, right? Not to state the obvious, but it’s… really hard to be a person these days. Everyone’s burnt out except the billionaires. Everyone’s nervous system is completely disregulated from doomscrolling punctuated by cat videos. Everything is more expensive than it ever was. New AND old global atrocities emerge every day. Let’s be honest, it’s tough to picture a bright future OR a meaningful present right now. So here’s how I MAKE it meaningful, and why magick makes me feel better:
1. It gets me out of the “scroll hole”
That’s what I call it when I spend the evening scrolling nothing in particular, unable to stop or look away. Sometimes even if I’m not in a scroll hole, I’ll end up doing double screen time: scrolling while I watch TV. It doesn’t feel great! But you know what does? Magick. Spellbooks and metaphysical reference texts are amazing replacements for scrolling; because most of them aren’t a linear narrative, you can flip through, read section headings and blurbs and stop when you find something cool. Even if you don’t have a haus full of spellbooks and encyclopedias of weird phenomena, your local library is an incredibly magical endless resource of every book you could imagine! I’m not gonna pretend that I’m out here having 100% screen-free evenings, but anything to get that blue light out of my face for a bit. Plus it brings adult me closer to little me, who was an amazing witch and would happily spend a whole day reading about the Loch Ness Monster.
2. It lights up my life
Lighting a candle is easy + effective magick, and having flickering flames around makes my house feel alive even on days when I feel particularly blah. You can truly do anything with candle magick, from manifesting to banishing and saying hey to the ancestors. No more effort than the flick of a lighter and a little silent prayer, but I always always feel better after.
3. It gets me to clean my haus
Speaking of making my haus feel better... I have a hard time getting motivated during my “free time” to take care of my space. I like when things are clean, but I don’t love cleaning, ya know? Unless, yes, you guessed it, it’s a spell. Clearing spells are some of the fun-est to do; playing a favorite song and dancing around is the HausWitch coven’s favorite method, and we even invented a line of magical cleaning products that smell good AND do the double duty of cleaning surfaces + spirits. With the world as messy as it is, coming home to a clean space makes it easier to recharge.
4. It gives me something to look forward to
Witches get to celebrate a holiday basically whenever we want. Full Moons, New Moons, and Dark Moons come every couple weeks. Every weekday is associated with a spirit or deity who has their own rites and rituals. The “sabbats” of the Wheel of The Year can help align with the seasons (which is especially helpful for navigating seasonal mood changes). Literal and creative ancestors have birthdays and death anniversaries during which you can pay your magical respects (even if it’s just watching a movie they made or listening to a song they wrote). Literally every day can be a holiday if you want it to be, which is not a gift to pass up these days.
5. It takes the guesswork out of getting ready
Sometimes it’s tough to get out of bed and get dressed, but thinking of my getting ready routine as a spell gets me up and engaged with my day. Brushing my teeth is a cleansing spell for anything weird I said the day before. Washing my hair gets other people’s energy out of my headspace. Planning outfits around intentions takes a lot of the guesswork out of my wardrobe- on Mondays I wear something silver for the Moon. On Wednesdays I wear my caduceus necklace for Mercury. On Fridays I wear florals for Venus. On Sundays I wear gold and honor my Leo Sun. And then of course there’s the coffee: making a pourover is witchy af imo, and adding a couple drops of a gem essence turns it into a full blown potion. Don’t you wanna get up early now?
6. It helps me organize my thoughts
Folks think of tarot as “fortune telling” but it’s actually a really helpful tool for introspection. Pulling even just one card can help me reflect on where my mind is at or what energy is swirling around the collective. It’s also a nice little treat: one of the best things that can happen during my day is seeing beautiful art. Pulling a card from a tarot or oracle deck that I love can help guide my energy, but also guarantees I get to see art that means something to me, every day, just because.
7. It creates a coven economy
Witches are really cool and creative, and supporting a small magic maker means you’re taking care of the global coven. Sure you can buy a white sage and crystal kit at 5 Below now; but buying a spell candle from Magic Hour puts food on their table. Buying a zine from SnakeHair keeps their lights on. Subscribing to the Secret Circle gets me personally out of the credit card debt that I've been lugging around for a decade (sorrynotsorry for that shameless plug, but transparency is really important around here!) Dollars are scarce for everyone these days, so when I have a little extra for treats it feels good to know where my dollars are going! And we obviously want our artists to keep making art, which naturally requires financing (no matter how magical they are).
8. It helps me do what I have to do.
Shit feels so bad out there because we need a revolution for real. Not as easy as it sounds of course, but The Witch is an othered, persecuted archetype, and if I’m gonna reap the benefits of practicing and identifying as a witch I better do it with the intention of using that healed/healing, clear energy to show up for my community.
I've been using my magical morning routine as motivation to volunteer at The Salem Pantry on my day off (which is Friday, Venus Day, and Venus loves seeing her children fed). Gather some friends and do a little success spell before a city council meeting. Hold a blue kyanite and call your reps. If that kind of thing makes you anxious, do a grounding meditation before and after to keep your energy even because we just gotta do it, babes. Witches are the future.
