Happy Saturday!
I am going to be entirely real with you - I grappled for days, trying to conjure up a cute and relevant theme for this week...but everything felt contrived and inauthentic when what I really want to be is honest. Sometimes it is about focusing on the absolute bare bones of your craft. It almost feels like those moments in a relationship (romantic, or not) - when you are pushed to the edge and the naked truth of what holds you in partnership are exposed...for better or worse.
I am at that point with my craft - and myself.
This week, I just want to take a moment and touch on 5 things that I have been focusing on lately, in small, easy ways to connect with my craft and frankly, to not lose it.
Breath. Body. Beauty. Belief. Balance.
Breath
The average person breathes about 20,000 times a day. If you are lucky enough to not face difficulty breathing - you may not even think about those breaths. And if you are like me, you might even catch yourself holding your breath for no reason throughout your day. In my teenage and young adult years, as a singer - I learned the power of manipulating your breath and the power that can come from conscious breathing. Then, more recently I started deepening my relationship with my own breathing habits through daily meditation.
It is truly the simplest and most basic tool available to immediately change your state of being. In my opinion, it is also the most important ingredient in any act. Your breath will tell on you. If you are petitioning to the spirit world, screaming into the heavens and asking for fire energy to ignite your deepest passions...but you are taking shallow, short breaths - it is almost like landing your dream job interview, preparing for weeks, only to show up without pants on! Depending on the job, usually that is not ideal.
A tangible way I have worked breath-awareness into my daily life is by having purposeful “mundane reminders” to take a full-body breath. What I mean by this is that I pick something that happens often - like getting an email, or using a fork - to cue a deep breath...almost like a little alarm. Then, when the thing happens I insist on taking a moment to really breathe one FULL breath.
It is also interesting what happens in these breaths. Some days, it feels luxurious and amazing. Other days, my body fights it or shakes at the top of the breath. There is so much to learn from how our body reacts.
Our breath is like the tide on which the entirety of our being floats. Like the moon, we are the force that pulls it. So, why not give yourself a peaceful sea?
Body.
This brick in the foundation of my craft can be a tricky one. I put this category in as an essential pillar not at all because I aspire to any fitness goal, frankly most days I feel like I don’t even understand what my body is doing or why (woo - being inside for a year!).
I bring Body up because I do believe that communicating with your human suit in literally whatever way possible is a step in a decent direction. If you are someone who enjoys doing that through headstands or Peloton rides - rad. But it is just as significant to do it through laying on the floor for 10 minutes to tune in, or literally stomping your feet a few times.
I truly think the pure and tiny act of reminding myself that I have come to this universe as a human being full of bones and blood for a reason - is powerful. I can get very swept up in my head with anxiety and depression - so looking at the palms of my hands, or thinking about how weird knees are literally helps sometimes.
Our body is also a pivotal part of our craft - hence why grounding before doing any work is important. After every ritual, spell, or circle I always tap my head and say my own name out loud to send awareness, and gratitude to this form that holds me.
A simple way to start your day with some attention to Body is by doing a scan of your whole body while you are still laying in bed. Before you grab your phone or turn on the lights, take 5 minutes to check in with your toes, ankles, calves, knees, thighs - you get the picture...all the way up to the very top of your head. Finish it off with a big morning stretch and you're off!
Beauty.
This is one of my favorite aspects, though sometimes the most elusive. I am not talking about attention to my own appearance here - though sometimes it can manifest as that. I am talking about finding things every single day that are absolutely stunning to me. Sometimes it is literally a pile of books in the sunlight, the molding on our windows, or the ocean (when I am lucky enough to see it). Other times it is something with more complex beauty - like a difficult conversation with my partner that leads us to greater understanding, or a shower after an anxiety attack.
In our society, I feel I have been trained to see beauty as one specific thing - something pleasing to the eye that matches a prescribed standard - whether that be crisp bed sheets with a discount code from some influencer or an actual physical beauty standard. Yet, so many of the things I find beauty in every day are not celebrated by Instagram.
I think fishing for beautiful moments in your daily life is a fantastic way to feed your craft, and your soul. I find one of my favorite parts of Witchcraft is placing the perfect items just-so on my altar, or lighting a candle and watching the flame dance. This pursuit of beauty infuses your craft with your own personal style...your own personal power. So why not take that beyond the boundaries of ritual work and infuse your life with the same power?
One tangible way I do this is in my home! I am constantly arranging and rearranging magickal trinkets on shelves, or switching up the books laid on our coffee table. To start small, you can clear off a shelf in your home and make it your “magick shelf” - full of things that are visually and spiritually beautiful to you. Unlike an altar that can hold a specific purpose...create a little corner of your universe that only aims to remind you of the beauty of your life.
Another way to engage with this concept is with flowers and plants! When I can afford it, I will grab some flowers at the grocery store - mismatched ones, random bouquets, etc. Then, I’ll take 30 minutes to trim and arrange them in little vases and jars around our apartment. It sounds frivolous - but the act of arranging the colors and textures in a way that is beautiful and unique to you can really infuse creativity, playfulness, and calm when you need it.
Belief.
Well this is a big one. And a hard one. 2020 (and let’s face it, much of 2021 so far) was a punching bag for so many when it comes to belief, hope and faith. I come to you not preaching to “keep believing!!’ but rather, to elaborate on what I have been doing to inspire my own belief during this time.
What do I mean by belief?
In this context, I am speaking about the belief that there is indeed power in within me, that it does make a difference, that my ancestors and participating spirits really do listen and contribute energy, and that there is reason and purpose that I am on this Earth. Just, ya know...the small things.
Let me start by saying...I do not always succeed at keeping these beliefs aglow. They dim, and they dim dark. But I think it is about always continuing to dance with belief - even if your feet are tired and you hate the song. My mom once said to me about relationships, “as long as both people still want to be on the dance floor - you are doing great. The dance can be really hard sometimes - one of you might literally be holding the other up...but as long as both parties are still dedicated to being on that floor...you have something to work with.”
I think this analogy really speaks to me with belief as well. I absolutely find myself throwing my hands up and asking, “What is the point?!” at times. But even then...the very fact that I am still in conversation with the unknown means the dance sways on. I hope I never stop asking what the point is.
This one is probably the most vague and personal of all of my pillars - but there are some tangible ways that I try to stay dancing with my belief on a daily basis.
When I feel totally lost - I pull an oracle card. There is this totally hilarious oracle deck that my mother gave me that is entirely mermaid and dolphin themed. For some reason, this little gift shop deck is my gateway to the spirit world. I swear to Hecate that my helping spirits have THROWN a card on the floor from this deck before (no wind, or worldly reasoning involved) - and it had a word or phrase on it that was directly applicable to the difficult situation I was going through. So, when I am feeling really ungrounded and uncertain I consult this deck - often just a one card pull for guidance.
I also ask for signs. I used to do this A LOT when I was little and really exploring my beliefs about other realms and death, but I still dabble in sign requests from time to time. When I need to know that I am on the right path, and that everything isn’t for nothing - I will talk to the universe and those in the spirit world. I’ll ask to be shown what I need to know, and sometimes to be shown that they are there. Then...the key is to keep your eyes open. Your signs will often not come in the way you expected them to, or in the time frame you had hoped for. But they typically will come.
Lastly - in an effort to create a more hopeful culture, I urge you to tell the people who make a difference in your life how they affect you. While there are SO many factors to keeping belief alive, knowing the impact you have on the people around you can (in many cases) be so meaningful and solidifying to one’s sense of purpose. Many of us live in a “too cool for school” culture where it is considered weak or strange to communicate appreciation, love, care, and deep gratitude. I hate that. If you have the bandwidth, send a quick text to a beloved friend telling them how they have helped you, or write a card to a loved one describing the way they have changed your life. Belief can be found in so many nooks and crannies of life.
Balance.
The lifelong journey to find balance! This pillar is aspirational for me, and maybe for you too. It is such a buzz word among spirituality and wellness communities and sometimes I don’t even know what it means. To me, it is a difficult thing to actively work towards but when I have it - I can feel it without a doubt. Usually I can identify feeling truly balanced when I am connected to nature, grounded in my own being, and connected to other humans around me. Recently I was lucky enough to be able to safely travel and visit my parents, we sat on the basically empty beach, cuddled up in chairs and just chatted as we looked out at the ocean. To me, that was balance.
What does true balance mean to you?
While finding it on a daily basis in my one bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, especially given the current circumstances, is more challenging - I am working in small ways to use the elements to bring balance to my reality.
Earth. Air. Fire. Water
Each day, I try to consciously engage with each of the elements. I pause when lighting a candle, say a little gratitude spell to the water spirits when I am in a hot shower, water my plants and touch the dirt, and open the windows wide (even in February) to feel the breeze.
It is not a recipe for instant-whole-body-balance but it is a reminder that balance exists and I will feel it again soon. Sometimes it is the small act of doing something that can put us back in the driver’s seat.
reprinted with permission of EFM
If You Can
This week, I urge any with extra funds to consider donating to local mutual aid funds in Texas. Here are some links to organizations that are working tirelessly and are taking donations. I encourage you to check out the @austinmutualaid Instagram page for a more extensive list
