I love your Witch on a Budget vertical. What a clever idea! Because I don't know about most people, but buying sage and lavender and candles and other supplies can get expensive. Not to mention, plenty of people don't have access to a local Craft supply shop.
Thanks! At its heart, magick and witchcraft is all about our connection to the earth and using nature as a medium between our human bodies and spiritual selves. I think it is absolutely wonderful to financially support other witches and people who practice by shopping their wares, but spending money you don't have just to "look the part" will only harm your practice. Financial security and wellbeing does wonders to unblock the parts of our mind and spirit that make our practice powerful, so being resourceful and sustainable with your ingredients and tools will serve to make you an even more powerful witch. Besides, scavenging around outside is fun! It makes me feel like a kid living out in the country again.
Your piece on morning energy routines — it was so good! I struggle with waking up, being productive in an efficient way and taking time for myself. Can you tell me a little more about how energy can be manipulated — whether you believe in 'magic' or 'witchcraft' or not?
Energy is a finite resource, like water, but we've stopped thinking of it that way. Witchcraft is immensely useful for mindful allocation of energy and reverence for the energy that we host inside our bodies, minds, and spirits. I also go to therapy, and combining what I learn about in therapy with my practice has helped me gain a good understanding of what my natural energy reserve looks like and how I tend to use energy most efficiently and enjoyably. I think the first step, whether you want to think of this as witchcraft or not, is to take stock of when you feel most naturally productive and happy and see if you can purposefully design your day around that time.
If it's not possible (example: you gets intense bursts of energy from 3-5 am but you have to work a 9-6 job) witchcraft or mindfulness can help you recreate the circumstances and factors that make you most naturally energetic. I love to channel energy, either into my own body or an external vessel, and cast it later. I usually wake up very happy and positive, but my energy wanes around 3 pm every day, so I "channel" my morning energy into a vessel, like jewelry or tea bags or a book.
Then, when I really need that energy later in the day, I release the energy by putting on that piece of jewelry or making tea or taking a five-minute break to read. It creates a pathway to the time of day when accessing that energy was effortless, and, while it doesn't work on the days when I am truly emotionally or physically exhausted, it gets me through the usual afternoon slump at work.
More than anything, energy manipulation is about respect for the resource. If your energy is being totally tapped out by something, give yourself some time and compassion to allow that energy reserve to be refilled. Every day of your life doesn't have to be your best, most productive day. Identify the activities and rituals and thoughts and relationships that refill your energy, and lean heavy on them when you need.
I know this is a very open-ended question, but what do you think is making society so sick? Have we always been sick? Is it something that we're lacking, specifically, right now? And, is witchcraft filling that void in some unexpected way? I always think of the simplicity of it — ritual, intent, light — and how we don't make a space for that in our lives. We just go, go, go.
I think society has always suffered the kinds of social ills we are feeling now, but there were limited ways to discuss them on a global scale. Think of it like your immune system: a virus might sit latent in your body for days, weeks, or months, but you don't experience symptoms until your immune system wakes up and starts attacking it.
I feel strongly that the Internet and globalism is our society's immune system. Suddenly, everywhere we look we see evidence of pain, dissatisfaction, inequality, exhaustion, etc. Our eyes have been opened to it, therefore we feel it in a monumental way. The Internet is working overtime to "catch us up" and get us informed so we can start attacking our social ills on a grand scale, but the Internet does not have a human body and soul that it needs to care for and nourish like we do. Witchcraft steps in to remind us that we can't clear away all the infection at once, that we must do it slowly and purposefully and in a way that is caring towards our human and spiritual selves. So much of witchcraft is focused on healing, and we really need that. We've been rubbed raw by the frenetic energy of the digital age, and while I believe the Internet will ultimately make us a more empathetic society, we need witchcraft to infuse clarity and compassion into that journey.
Where are you located — and how does that impact your craft? Do you feel isolated or are you an out and about practitioner? Would you call yourself a witch?
I live and practice in Austin, Texas. I've lived in Austin for six and a half years, but I've been a native Texan my whole life. I came to college here and formed my first adult friendships here, and I've always felt comfortable being who I am in a fairly public way. I don't hide the face that I practice witchcraft on my social media accounts, and I'm fairly certain that my employers read my blogs and published work before they hired me.
Austin is lauded as an open-minded haven for liberals and weirdos in the sea of conservative Texas, but my experience is that urban centers in Texas all tend to be pretty accepting of most types of people. I have several friends who I practice my craft with--we get together for rituals and pagan holidays and tag each other in witchy Instagram posts. They are so powerful, and they've made me more powerful by sharing their magick with me. I do consider myself a witch, and I usually describe myself as an atheistic eclectic pagan. I don't believe in deity worship, which means I pull from a lot of different sects of paganism and witchcraft to make my own little atheistic but spiritual haven. I definitely don't feel like I could comfortably discuss my beliefs frankly while say, standing in line to check out at Michael's while surrounded by suburban moms, but I've got a "Blessed Be" sticker on my car and so far it hasn't been keyed!
What are some publications creating great spaces for women, the art and magic?
I adore Witch Way Magazine (@witchwaymagazine on Instagram). Their content is so accessible and educational and non-judgmental, which is what I think we all desperately need right now. POMEgranate Magazine (@pomemag on Instagram and Twitter) is a digital mag and small press in Austin for witchy illustrators and internet nerds, which basically blends my two loves. They are also super queer friendly, which is becoming increasingly important as people start to question the more heteronormative aspects of witchcraft. Autostraddle is an incredible publication that has changed the way that I consume pop culture and media, and does a lot to normalize the Craft and alternative identities for women and queer people. I am a loyal fan and avid reader of Bitch Media, from their podcasts to their newsletters and magazine. And of course, Luna Luna Magazine! Luna Luna is probably my favorite witchy publication to turn to when I want dark poetry, gritty personal essays, or interesting tidbits on occult history.
Aw, thank you so much! We blush.
