Woo~Woo Weekdays: Part Two

The house is dark and quiet. I reach for my glasses and robe and putter my slipper cladden feet out to the kitchen, a parade of puppy and kitten paws pattering behind me.

I click on the twinkle lights that run along my little cabinets and press the glowing brew button on our new coffee pot, a christmas gift we got for ourselves. I slide open the kitchen curtains first and then the window, letting in a fresh warm breeze and saying good morning to the bugs already stuck to the screen. The air smells woodsy, like it must have rained overnight. I inhale and I'm eight years old and my grandmother is asking me to burp the house before it gets too hot.

The coffee pot blinks 5:55 as it comes to life, sputtering out hot, liquid gold. Tiny paws clammer up my legs as I pour kibble into bowls and set them down on the green linoleum. There is a magic in the morning, when the air is still and the world is not quite awake. Some mornings, okay, let’s be honest, most mornings I too would prefer to not be awake, but I have also come to enjoy the world illuminated by gentle air and twinkling lights, and I am leaning into the magic of the mundane.

Turning routines into rituals is one of the ways that we can lean into the magic of the everyday, to romanticize what is so frequently un-romantic. Here are a few small tweaks that have worked for me.

Intentional Coffee Magic

A cup of coffee (or several) is how most of us start our day, at least where I’m from. If you are a tea drinker or even a hot water with lemon you can still participate, it’s all about the intention. All it takes is an extra moment or two when you’re making your beverage of choice. As you pour your coffee, take a breath and still your body and mind for just a moment. Think about the day ahead, and what elements you hope to incorporate into it. Whisper those words into your coffee as you stir in your creamer or sugar or other additions. I often choose to whisper joy, peace, and prosperity. But you may choose other intentions like motivation, or health or focus. Whatever you need and hope to draw towards yourself throughout the day. As an extra bit of magick, I like to add a little bit of cinnamon to my coffee for protection throughout the day. I find this practice gives me a moment to take a breath and ground myself in the midst of a task I was going to do anyway.

Clearing and Cleansing Home Energies

If you live in an old house like I do, or also like myself, have a lot of pets and people living in said home, you probably find yourself cleaning often. Dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, laundry and especially the dishes are tasks that are easy to dread, but adding a little bit of ritual to thise routines can help. As a witchy woman with raging ADHD, this is how I get it done, add in a little woo woo energy and have come to be at peace with it rather than dread it.

I start by setting up a timer on my TV. On days that I have more time, I put on a full hour, but if that isn’t possible I'll choose whatever I have time for. I find my timers on youtube, and there are tons in a wide variety of styles. I like the aura ones, chores are easier when you have something pretty to look at.

Then I gently tap a wall and a corner here and there to let any spirits know I'm about to cleanse the space, out of respect for the parts of the universe I cannot see. Then I cleanse. I am partial to smoke cleansing. A note about smoke cleansing, there are several herbs that are part of closed practices, so please research them before starting a smoke cleansing practice. I make bundles from my garden, but you can find bundles at almost any metaphysical store and online, just make sure it’s a reputable place. I light the end of my bundle with a match and like to let it burn for a few moments over a heat safe dish before I blow it out. I like to whisper prayers to the spirits as I wander though my little house. I usually ask for negative energies to be banished, and for protections over the walls of our home and all that reside in it. It takes a few minutes at most and I find it puts me in a calmer mental headspace.

And then I clean until my timer runs out. Sometimes calmly while singing along to Lana Del Ray and Suki Waterhouse, and sometimes frantically and energetically while dancing and singing alone to Florence and the Machine. It just depends on the day and the vibes.

When the timer goes off, I finish my task and put away my supplies. I tap the walls once more to let the spirits know it’s safe to come back. And all is right in my little witchy home.

Warding The Entrances To The Home

This sounds much more dramatic than I meant for it too. As I mentioned earlier, cinnamon is often used to help manifest protection. It’s a long held ritual by many in my community to use it in an abundance of rituals around the home. One of the easiest rituals to incorporate is to use cinnamon to invite in protection and prosperity on the first of the month. Stand outside your front door with it open, looking into your home. Take a deep breath and visualize the protections you want and need over your home, and then blow the cinnamon through your door.

That’s it.

I like to take it a step farther sometimes and use the leftover cinnamon in my palm to draw protection sigils and symbols on my door with my finger. If you’re unfamiliar with what those are, I'd be happy to talk more about them.

Life can be mundane and tedious, especially the tasks that we carry throughout our lives on repeat. But finding moments within these tasks to focus on grounding ourselves and tending to our craft really can make all the difference. Let me know what rituals you try, or ones you already do! I’d love to add more to my routines.

Thank you for reading, thank you for being here, and above all thank you for being yourself.

Next time we’ll talk about pleasure, about how we as women are conditioned to de-prioritize it in our current society, about implementing sensuality into your daily life, and soon, about orgasm as meditation.

XO, Alys