Day: November 22, 2019

So, you are inspired to make daily mini-rituals, and you have the necessary time for it. But money is an issue, for there is a tight budget to keep. In today´s blog post, I´ll show you, dear readers, that it is still possible to have a daily practice with witchcraft without too many money concerns.

The secret is to plan ahead and to be as creative as possible. We live with a pretty strict budget on a daily basis so every major shopping event needs to be planned carefully. We look for good offers, and we prioritize needs before wants.

I began my journey of witchcraft with a cabinet from the local second-hand shop, a few books and some items from our collection of decorative items and trinkets. Now, three years later, I probably could open my own curiosity shop.

But only about a quarter of it is bought. I love to DIY, so I try to create things as often as possible. I´m also careful not to spend money unless I have to. And when I do spend money, I always look for the best possible buy so that I get the most out of it.

Only recently did I find the perfect athame, before that I used a wooden wand as my athame. And don´t forget that your index finger is always a great choice as an athame. The strength lies within you and not in any bought item alone.

I keep an inventory list that also serves as my more or less permanent witchy shopping list. I check it after each major ritual so that I always have what I need. I only use white candles on a daily basis and save the colored ones for the festivals/Sabbaths and special occasions.

My husband grows sage, rosemary, and thyme for me to use in my work with witchcraft. Most of the kitchen herbs you already know have magickal correspondences and it is both practical and beautiful to keep them on the window sill.

In general, be optimistic and positive even though there always is a budget to keep. Living on a strict budget can be demanding at times, but it also gives you the opportunity to be creative with what you already have. And, believe me, you will discover that you often have more than enough.

I have inherited quite a few things after my mother´s passing five years ago. So I´m both fortunate and privileged. I´m able to live in a big house because we prioritize everything. But I have also learned the hard way how it is to live without much money.

It has taken us more than eights years to come to the point where we are now. I know the feeling of not having enough money and of having to live on the terms of others. But I have never been the big spender anyway. It is possible to practice witchcraft even on a strict budget.

Be creative and practical before shopping

Living on a tight budget means creativity and practicality. To get everything in balance is not easy, however. You need to prioritize needs before wants, to pay the bills before spending extra money on e.g. witchcraft, and to choose whether you should buy something for the Craft or go to the cinema.

Think witchcraft into mundane matters and see how creative you end up being. Then take ordinary items and make them witchy by adding e.g. paint, rhinestones, and glitter. And don´t be afraid to re-purpose items, it will also stress the environment less.

The following are my own suggestions as to how it can be done without ending up bankrupt:

• Try first to use what you already have or create something yourself.
• Use things found during a walk in Nature, e.g. the forest or the beach.
• Write down a list of supplies for the daily work with witchcraft and prioritize it as you would do with your typical shopping list.
• Carry it with you always so that you can pick a good offer when you spot one.
• Plan your shopping so you go to the grocery shop, the second-hand shop, and/or the local dollar store when you are out there anyway.
• Plan a witchy shopping day when you have saved a nice little sum of money to use with a good conscience.
• Buy birthday candles for spells. It saves large candles for the bigger ritual occasions, and it makes spellwork easier in daily life.
• Use tea bags as spell and charm bags.
• Try to go to local markets and garage sales to see if there should be something useful for witchcraft purposes. Often ordinary things can be as useful as specialties in an expensive shop.
• Use your imagination. It is the best tool available, and it is often the best way to save money.

Whenever I´m out of the house, I´m on the lookout for items suitable for my daily witchcraft practice. I often pass by several second-hand shops and have found many fine things of good quality there. And with a little moderation, you have the best possible tools to work with.

For when being creative you are also at the same time infusing your work with your personal energy, the strongest tool of them all. And when things become personal, there is a much greater chance that you will use it again and again rather than leaving the bought stuff at the farthest corner of the closet.

Being careful with money has become a common rule here at our place. It has made us able to save up some money to use once a month for whatever we want. Often, we skip the buying and leave the money to further grow.

But every once in a while I plan a special shopping trip. Then I perhaps have about 100 dollars from the savings to use for witchcraft or other purposes. And the key is to get as much as possible for them.

Do it yourself and learn the Craft on a practical level

The word witchcraft indicates that being a witch is as much a craft as it is a beautiful way of living. Making your own tools is a satisfying way of practicing the Craft on a daily basis, for you are being creative with something you love to do, to practice witchcraft.

Witchcraft is not only big rituals and fancy stuff. It is also a craft where you use tools as you would in any trade. You get, so to speak, to be a jack of all trades when you are practicing witchcraft on a daily basis with a tight budget.

These are my own ways of being creative on a strict budget:

• Use Pinterest to get inspiration and ideas to work with at home.
• Design and create your own Tarot/Lenormand cards.
• Make your own runes, pentagrams, and wands from wood found in the forest or at the beach.
• Use the jewelry you wear for magickal purposes, e.g. rose quartz for calming and reassuring on a troublesome day.
• Grow your own herbs for witchcraft in your kitchen´s window sill or at your sacred place.
• Try to produce your own candles, it is great fun and something that children will love to participate in.
• Create Goddess figurines form homemade salt dough or clay.
• Craft your own notebooks and Book of Shadows.
• Buy fabric for altar cloths and ritual robes at the local second-hand shop.
• Use ordinary items whenever possible rather than just buying the latest fancy stuff.

When I´m in the creative mood, I sit in my creative den with lit tea light candles and a mini-ritual where I say a few positive words and ask the Universe to aid me in my work. I also use incense whenever possible, for it creates a wonderful, calming atmosphere that I love to work in.

It is almost like a ritual in itself to be able to be creative despite living on a tight budget. So I do it as often as possible on the good days where my osteoarthritis allows me to work with creative things, and it can really save my day.

I have been working with DIY for many years, and I´ll never stop to find creative outlets for my inspiration. There is something undeniably satisfying in making things yourself. It doesn´t need to be perfect to fit into my world of witchcraft.

But it has to be made with love and respect, both for the materials and for the intention behind. I don´t rush my projects, I let them take their time and wait. As I wait, when the money is too tight, even though I would love to buy this and that.

When I have to prioritize, I always do it with the thought that there has to be something left for tomorrow as well as today. Often I find what I need in what I already have. Then the money issue becomes less important than I thought.

From daily mini-rituals to a novel

This is the last blog post about daily mini-rituals. We have been through issues with inspiration, time, and money. I have tried to show you how it can be done, so it is still fun and worth the effort to practice witchcraft on a daily basis in a stressed, modern world.

The last blog post this gray and rainy November is about living with the shadows. I live with them daily because I choose to do so. It gives me the mental surplus that we all need to get through the very mundane issues that so often tend to fill out every time of the day.

I also live with other kinds of shadows than the witchy ones. In my novel, there are the human shadows that we don´t want to feel ourselves. But we do feel them, we are all flawed in some way. And thank the Universe for that. I would not wish for a world of perfection, just watch and listen to what goes on.

On Monday, the theme is free-writing. I need a day to write from the bottom of my heart without any strings attached, so it will depend on my mood what the blog post will be about. But I will probably mention my novel, my best choice ever.

After I have decided to go on with it, it has changed my life. It is a major part of my life now. I spend about six hours daily on it, and the more I work with it, the more I love it. I should have done this a long time ago, but maybe it is for the best. I was not ready for it until now.

Being a mature woman and a Crone helps a lot. As do life experiences, of which I can find inspiration for many a novel. Yes, I have ideas for writing for a long time. And I will use these ideas, as they show up in my mind.

Practicing witchcraft on a daily basis has given me the necessary discipline to sit down and stay there until I have finished what I came for. It is about getting certain routines in place, and then to stick with them no matter what.

Allow me to quote the following (author unknown to me at present moment):

“Happiness is the new rich. Inner peace is the new success. Health is the new wealth. Kindness is the new cool.”

It always makes me happy and content to see these words. They are so full of meaning, they are so simple, yet complicated to attain in life. They hang on my wall close to my writing desk as a reminder of being satisfied in life.

But now it is time to wish you a pleasant and enriching weekend, dear readers. May your creativity blossom, may you find the inspiration, time, and money for whatever your dreams are. May you find peace of mind. So Mote It Be.