Introduction
Hello, and welcome to the first lesson in the Live Your Magic workshop. Today we’re going to focus on the home and body and on some foundational elements in living a magical life. The topics of this lesson are grounding, the home and creating sacred space, and self-care.
Grounding
We are going to start with grounding as it is the foundation for so many other techniques such as visualization, meditation, and mindfulness.
Grounding means to connect to the earth beneath you. The goal of grounding is to send any negative energy into the ground where it will be broken down and rendered inert (in much the same way that the earth breaks down plant and animal matter). Grounding has been found to have possible health benefits beyond just emotional ones.
You ground when you are feeling overwhelmed, disappointed, angry, or otherwise emotions that are negatively affecting you. I’m not advocating for cutting out all negative emotions, however if they are getting in the way of you living purposefully, it is good to release them. Grounding can also help if you are feeling too much of a good thing. It allows you to siphon off the excess emotion so that you can think clearly.
Grounding is as simple as placing your feet on the bare earth and imagining roots growing from your feet and into the ground. You then will push your negative or excessive energy into the ground. You can imagine the energy as a dark cloud or swirling form, or experience it as a smell or an emotional feeling. Then imagine that energy being pushed out of your body into the ground. Once in the ground it starts to break down and dissipate into the rich earth.
If you can’t go barefoot on the earth you can use the power of your visualization to get the same benefits of grounding. We’ll cover visualization in the next module, but briefly here all you need to do is imagine that the ground beneath your feet is rich, black earth. Imagine that your feet are bare and are in contact with this earth. Then imagine the roots coming out of your feet into the “soil”. Continue with the rest of the grounding technique to push the unwanted energy into the earth.
When you are done with pushing the energy into the earth, imagine your roots drawing back up into your feet. You can then go on the rest of your day.
Once you get practiced at it, grounding can take as little as 30 seconds. What I want you to do now is pause the video and then practice grounding. You don’t need to push any energy into the earth if you don’t have anything to get rid of right now. I just want you to practice visualizing those roots going into the earth and then withdrawing them back up into your feet.
Now that you have come back I want you to put grounding into your mental toolbox. You are going to bring it out whenever you feel overwhelmed, anxious, sad, angry or another emotion that isn’t serving you. You are going to ground yourself when you feel these things and then go on your way.
This is your first technique in living a magical life and it’s going to help you in so many ways as it gives you time to pause, reflect and then move on to centering yourself. Grounding reminds you of the magic inside yourself because you have this power to take those negative emotions and release them to be transmuted.
The Home
Now that we have learned about grounding we’re going to move our focus over to the home. Being secure and comfortable in our homes is so important that I wrote a whole book on it, The Scent of Lemon & Rosemary. We spend so much of our time in our homes that we can’t really talk about living a magical life without addressing it.
You can help secure your home with objects like crystals and plants. For example you can plant yarrow around your home to protect it. Or you can place black tourmaline in your windows and by your doors to block out any negative energy or malicious magic that might be targeted at you. You can find more about magical home protection in my workshop, aptly named Magical Home Protection.
But when we talk about the home and enchanting your life, we need to talk about cleaning. As boring as it is, cleaning is important. And the first way you can incorporate magic into your life is by making your chores magical.
There are a lot of different ways you can do this, starting with adding moon or sun water to your cleaning supplies. Moon and sun water are made by placing a jar or bowl of water out during a full moon or at noon so that the energies of the moon or sun can infuse the water. Then you store your water in a jar with a tightly fitting lid. The water can be used for cleansing and cleaning.
You can add lemon juice, sprigs of rosemary and salt to your water to make a wash for your doors and windows. And then, during the waxing moon, you wash all the entrances to your home with that water to cleanse and protect them. When you are doing this, make sure to pour a little bit of the water down drains and flush it down the toilet as those can be entryways for negative energy as well.
For me, no chore is worse than dusting. I hate it because it seems like a never ending task. But I’ve changed my way of thinking about dusting, and now see it as removing stagnant energy. This can help when you are tackling your household chores. While you may be engaged in the mundane activity of cleaning, you are also magically cleansing your space. The same goes with sweeping, you aren’t just gathering up dirt and pet hair, you are also cleansing the floor and space.
Also, include some cleansing activities with your cleaning. You can use sound or smoke cleansing to go through the rooms and get any last stagnant energy out of the house. Make sure when you are cleaning that you open a window, even if it’s just a crack, so there is a place for the energy you are chasing out to go. And don’t forget to get into cupboards and closets when you are cleansing.
Finally, when you finish cleaning, make sure to lay down a protective layer. You can use incense, a room spray or even just steam from tea to protect your newly cleansed spaces.
I recommend cleaning at least once a month, although more often is better as the dust, and negative energy, tends to gather a lot more quickly than you would think.
All this cleaning is just a way of establishing sacred space in your home. But that is not the only way you can sanctify where you live and work.
Sacred Spaces
The very first thing that usually comes to mind when talking about sacred spaces is the altar. Personally, I feel that altars fall into the “nice to have if you are going to maintain it category”. If it becomes just a place to trap dust and dead flowers, then it isn’t really helpful and will just add to your sense of anxiety and obligation. So first decide if you really want an altar. Think about what it is you hope to gain from it. And think about where you would put it.
Altars come in all types. There are ancestral altars, elemental altars, deity altars, etc. When thinking about if you really want an altar, think about what kind you would like. Ancestral altars are good to connect to the wisdom of those who came before you. And they don’t have to be dedicated to blood relations. Those in the past that you feel a kinship to, such as people you admire, people who have done the sort of things you want to do, etc. can be considered ancestors. Elemental altars are just how they sound, altars that balance the four elements. Those can be as grand or as simple as you want. Deity altars are just how they sound, altars dedicated to an individual deity. If you are going to work with a god or goddess, you might want to have a physical space where you connect to them on a frequent basis.
Ideally, altars provide you with a place to connect to your magic and the divine (if you so choose). They are magical workspaces and should be treated as such.
Another place you can sanctify is your bed. You spend a good portion of your time in bed, it should be set up to meet your sleep needs. Have bed linens that are comfortable and that make you happy. Make yourself a lavender spray to spray down your linens before you get into bed to help you sleep. There will be a recipe for the linen spray in the handout for this module.
Another place where you can create sacred space is the kitchen table. When you eat you are engaging in a magical act. Take time to set your table accordingly. Use dishes that you enjoy, use a tablecloth or placemats and cloth napkins. We’ll talk about gratitude in the Water module, but briefly, take the time to give thanks when you are eating. You can thank any deity you are working with, or the universe in general, or even just thank the food on your plate. Whatever you do, approach your kitchen table and meals with gratitude.
Finally, let’s talk about your workplace. While it’s not a part of your home, it is where you spend a majority of your time when not at home. I know it’s hard to view anything to do with employment as magical, but you can add reminders to your workspace to enchant your life even on the job. Add crystals such as citrine and plants such as jade plant to your desk (for success in your job). If you are having problems with coworkers or bosses not respecting your boundaries, bring in a cactus to sit in your workspace. If you have a job that doesn’t come with a desk or office look into adding sigils to things like clipboards and the back of your name tag. And remember, when you look at your magical additions, why you put them there.
Self-Care
The last topic we’re going to cover in this module is the idea of self-care. Society has really bought into the idea that self-care means buying something for ourselves. But self-care really is a concept divorced from consumerism when you get down to it. Self-care is really a response to and a defense against capitalism and all it entails. We sell our time and labor for wages that often do not fairly compensate us for that, and so self-care helps us recover. Self-care in and of itself is magical, but we need to remove the price tag to see the benefits.
Magical self-care requires nothing more than intention and what you already have on hand.
Starting with baths and showers, you can create a magical self-care routine by making a bath or shower bag. Fill a drawstring, cotton pouch with salt, dried lavender or eucalyptus, and a piece of bloodstone or aventurine, close the drawstring and let it float in your bath or hang it under your showerhead. And when you are bathing, imagine the protective energies of the ingredients in the shower bag infusing your body.
We also need to talk about exercise, eating right, and taking care of our bodies when we talk about self-care.
Your body is your most powerful magical tool and taking care of it is of vital importance. Engaging in meditation (which we’ll cover in the next module), grounding, exercise and eating right helps to keep you healthy. You can make all of those magical from choosing foods with various magical properties, to engaging in walking meditations to get your steps in.
And finally we come to sleep. Sleep is possibly the most important aspect of self-care. Not only does it help us recover from the day’s events but our dreams allow us to tap into deep creative and subconscious parts of our minds. Taking time to set up a sleep routine that helps ease you into sleep is an important aspect of self-care.
If you have a hard time getting to sleep at night, create a sleep tincture to take before bed. I have a recipe for a sleep tincture that I use in the lesson handout.
Conclusion
We start with grounding because it is a technique that will help in the others throughout the rest of the course. And we focus on the home and self-care in this first lesson because they are usually places we have the most control over. Now that you have finished with the lecture portion of this lesson I want you to take time filling out the self-assessment exercise and doing the hands-on exercise.
You will also want to check out the lesson transcript for a few links and the resources section for further reading. Remember to be kind to yourself throughout this course and give yourself grace if you need it. I’ll see you in the next lesson.
Self-Assessment Exercise
Now that you have gone through the lesson in this module it is time to work on your self-assessment work. The questions in this exercise are meant to get you thinking about how you can put the information in the lesson to work in your own life.
Turn to a blank page and answer the following questions as thoroughly as you are able. Take at least five minutes to answer each question. Don’t feel like you have to limit yourself to writing, either. You can doodle, color, sketch, and even collage and stamp your answer to the questions. Do what feels right and makes sense to you. Just make sure that you will be able to understand your entries later.
You can also print out the attached PDF document and write your answers there, if you want.
Let’s dive right in with the questions:
- When is one time you can incorporate grounding into your life?
- What is one thing you can do to make your house feel safer, more comfortable for you and your family?
- Where can you create sacred space?
- What is one act of self-care you can engage in once a week that will help you feel more magical?
Lesson Handout
Create a linen spray and a sleep tincture with the recipes in this lesson handout.
Keep a Dream Journal
Most dream dictionaries are not useful as symbolism in dreams is very personal. Where a dream journal might tell us that dreaming of a crocodile indicates tranquility, that might not resonate with your dream if the crocodile is attacking you. Because of this, you are going to start paying attention to your dreams and building your own personal dream dictionary.
Forthe next month keep your journal next to your bed. When you wake, before getting up, take five to ten minutes to write down what you dreamt about. Write down any significance you associate with what you dreamt about.
Do this for a month and then look over what you have written to start building associations and meanings. You can also look deeper into the dreams to see what it is that your subconscious mind it trying to tell you, if anything.
The Scent of Lemon & Rosemary: Working Domestic Magick with Hestia by Raechel Henderson – This book goes room by room through the house and teaches how to make it a comforting, welcoming space.
The Magical Household: Empower your Home with Love, Protection, Health, and Happiness by Scott Cunningham and David Harrington – A classic book with all sorts of ways to make your home magical.
Hearth & Home Witchcraft: Rituals and Recipes to Nourish Home and Spirit by Jennie Blonde – This book goes into detail on domestic witchcraft.
Spiritual Housecleaning: Healing the Space Within by Beautifying the Space Around You by Kathryn L. Robyn – This book focuses on the spiritual nature of housekeeping and how cleaning the rooms in your home can be tied to healing your spiritual wounds.