“Believe something and the Universe is on its way to being changed. Because you’ve changed, by believing. Once you’ve changed, other things start to follow. Isn’t that the way it works?”

~ Diane Duane, So You Want to Be a Wizard

Every year around this time, the witchy internet blooms with blog posts and articles about making this a magickal year. We see everyone offering tips to be more magickal, often tips we’ve heard time and time again.

Sit under the full moon.
Carry crystals with you everywhere you go.
Meditate every day.
Become more mindful.
Make more magickal friends. 

I think my favorite was an article this year that basically implied that witches should learn kundalini yoga because it will make you a better witch. Have we come to a point where we have run out of ways to use witchcraft to make our lives magickal that now we’re just turning to things like the new age trend of everyone learning kundalini yoga?

This isn’t rocket science…so why does everyone typical fail so hard at it? 

I mean, if these tips were all so great, why would there be so many people feeling like they are disconnected from magick and spirit and then feeling like each new year needs a reminder of these “tips?” And, more importantly, why is it that most people tend to fall off these habits after a month?

It’s called “life.” 

Life happens. And we have a really fucked up thought process that seems to tell us that the mundane and the magickal just don’t go hand in hand in modern society all that great. So we fall off these magickal habits that someone suggests because we don’t have the time or we don’t want other people to know about our witchy ways.

Naturally, this doesn’t apply to everyone. There are plenty of people out there right now with crystals in their bras and sigils in their shoes answering phones in a call center to taking a meeting in a corner office who are happily finding a magickal balance to their lives. But I’m going to guess that since you’re reading this that you aren’t one of those people.

So what does it really take to live a magickal life? Is it kundalini yoga? Is it sitting naked under the full moon?

Define what a “magickal life” means to you.

This is where I think most people fail right off the bat. They hear other people describe magickal living and just say, “OK, sure, that works.” They aren’t thinking about what they need, want or desire from magick in their lives. Your magickal life beings but knowing that that even looks like for you.

Action: Ask yourself questions like:
What do I practice magick?
How does my spiritual and magickal practice improve my life?
Where do I need more of that energy in my life?

Be dedicated to your practice.

This is probably the biggest issue most people have, and it’s rarely on purpose. It’s often easy to start a magickal habit {or any habit, really} but not so easy to keep it. This is why starting small and building up is better than trying to begin with some hour-long morning ritual every day right out the gate and having the expectation that you’re going to still do it a week from now. You’re not, don’t kid yourself.

Action: Knowing what you want from your magickal life, come up with at least two things you really can do on a daily basis that will help you reach those goals.

Remain open to change.

Yes, life is still going to happen, and shit is going to get in the way. You’re going to be sick one week and probably not do your daily magickal rituals for a bit. Does that mean you’ve failed and you should quit? No! It means you have to adjust. If your magickal habits include things like light a candle and incense on your altar every day and you’re sick in bed with the flu, maybe instead you take five minutes to visualize the candle and incense on your altar and direct your energy that way. Have to go to a work event on the night of the full moon and can’t attend or perform a ritual? Do it the next day! Be willing to adjust.

Action: Start a daily journal as a way to hold yourself responsible for your practice and the need to change and adjust as you go. This doesn’t need to be a big heart pouring journal unless that works for you. It can just be a daily log with a little reflection on what your practice involved and how magickal the day felt. Did you adjust something? Try something new? How did it go?

Magick doesn’t just happen at your altar.

This is probably the most essential part of truly living a magickal life. You need to look for the magickal threads between the mundane and the magickal and bring them together. When we separate the two, it becomes far too easy to let one fall by the wayside. Don’t think of magick as just spells and rituals, think of magick as merely being YOU. Your life is a spell! You are the magick. At the end of the day, no ritual can happen, and no magick can manifest if you aren’t there putting your energy into it.

Action: Think of the most boring and mundane thing you have to do every day. As an example let’s say it’s taking a shower. How can you make this magickal? While you’re in the shower stand under the water and close your eyes and in your mind’s eye visualize the water glowing a bright white color. As it runs over your body, it washes away any negative energy. Then see the color of the water slowly being, shifting to a color that possesses a power you need for that day; pink for a going on a date, orange for going to a big meeting at work, purple for giving a speech or teaching.

Every day of the week is magickal!

To kind of piggyback on this idea of taking your magick away from the altar and into your daily life, consider the fact that each day of the week has its own magickal energy. We could get super detailed about this and get right down to talking about the planetary hours of the day, but let’s just start small with the days of the week. Plan your week accordingly. For example, if you need to have a serious talk with a friend because of something that’s bothering you it might be ideal to plan it for a Wednesday, a day ruled by Mercury and favoring communication. Maybe Tuesday would be better because you could use the courage and strength of Mars to get you through it.

Action: Make a note in your planner or calendar about the ruling energies of each day of the week and start doing as much planning as you can around it. {Shameless Self Promotion…my magickal planner Witching 2018 can make this all easy peasy for you}.

Accept that you cannot, and will not, know it all.

This is just a bit of a side note because I know that for some people it can feel like the magickal world is just too big and it gets overwhelming. Some people give up before they even start. They feel like they’ll never learn everything or know enough to live a magickal life. First off, you will NEVER, and I do mean never, know it all. Its just isn’t possible. But I feel like that’s part of what makes magickal living so exciting; there’s something new to learn every day! So keep learning, every single day, and don’t stop until you’re dead.

Action: Make a plan to learn one new thing a month or to read one book or attend a workshop each month that helps you grow your knowledge so you can meet those goals you desire out of a magickal life.

Get really good at detecting magickal bullshit.

There’s a lot of it out there. Lots of people love to push some crazy concepts when it comes to magick and what it means to be a “true witch” or to live a magickal life. Learning to discern for yourself what is right and what just isn’t. Like an article I saw a while back talking about this very subject of magickal living that suggested the “tip” of watching the movie Practical Magic once a month to be more magickal. Are you fucking serious? Did I just get punked here?  Sometimes it may just be a difference in approach but that’s OK. Instead of buying into bullshit because it’s just easy or sounds nice, nix it and surround yourself with people and things that inspire you with magick that is right for you.

Action: Go through your social media, your email lists, and your browser bookmarks and remove anything that doesn’t feel right for you…anything that doesn’t pass a witchy “bullshit sniff test.” You don’t need that in your life so let it go.

Don’t let modern life stop you from thinking you can live your magick 24/7 because you can. You don’t have to live in the woods doing nothing but casting spells and making potions all day to be live a full-time magickal life!

It’s your life, live it in the magickal way that feels right for you, but just living it magically! Just like there are Sunday Christians there are Sabbat Pagans and Full Moon Witches. If that feels magickal enough for you, then awesome! You do you, boo boo. But if it doesn’t, don’t settle for a mediocre witchy life.  Adapt, adjust, and commit. Define what magickal living is for you and then create your path every day.