The Witch's Book of Self-Care: Magical Ways to Pamper, Soothe, and Care for Your Body and Spirit - Arin Murphy-Hiscock 2018
Discovering Your Spiritual Beliefs
Spiritual Self-Care
The following rituals will help you discover, define, explore, and develop your spiritual beliefs.
Spiritual Vision Board
As with the Self-Care Vision Board in Chapter 2, this activity helps you plan out and remain inspired by quotations, images, and other sources that can inform your spiritual self-care. When you create a vision board and place it in a space where you see it often, you essentially end up doing short visualization exercises throughout the day.
This Spiritual Vision Board should have a more specific focus than your general self-care board from Chapter 2. When designing the vision board, the focus should be on how you want your spiritual self-care to reflect. Your Spiritual Vision Board should motivate and inspire you to work toward the quality of spiritual life you want to be living.
Some concepts you may wish to consider when you design your Spiritual Vision Board are:
♦ Nature
♦ Your engagement with the earth
♦ Power animals, animal spirits
♦ Representations of the Divine
♦ Representations of abstracts and ideals that inspire you to be the best you can be
You could use a corkboard or poster board from a craft store, or repurpose a frame that you already have by replacing the contents with blank card stock.
Again, consider whether you want this board to be permanent or an ongoing evolution that reflects how your needs for spiritual self-care change.
What You Need:
♦ A foundation for your board
♦ Pens or markers
♦ Blank card stock
♦ Photos, souvenirs, and trinkets that support or evoke your spiritual goals
♦ Glue, tape, or pushpins (depending on your foundation board)
♦ Washi tape, stickers, and so on (optional)
What to Do:
1. Gather your supplies.
2. If you like, use the journaling ritual in Chapter 1 to prepare for the activity, including the candle and incense, if you use them. Otherwise, create a pleasant ambience to work in: adjust the lighting, put on relaxing or motivational music, and so forth.
3. Design your board. Do you want space between the objects on your board, or do you want them to overlap? Also decide if you want to fill the board completely or leave space for new things as they come into importance in your spiritual life.
4. Write an affirmation or a short list of spiritual self-care statements or goals on the piece of card stock and position it on the board.
5. Arrange the photos and/or other items around the affirmation or list as you like without attaching them. When you have decided on your layout, fasten your items to the board with glue, tape, or pushpins. Use the washi tape, stickers, and so forth to further decorate the vision board.
6. Display the Spiritual Vision Board in your chosen location.
Tip:
♦ Review your Spiritual Vision Board when you review your spirituality (see later in this chapter). It can help jog your memory or help you gauge your current emotional reaction to representations of what your values or focuses were when the board was created.
Ritual to Connect to Your World
It’s not just staying open to what the universe can give you that is important. It may be hard to believe, but what you can give back to the universe and the world around you is equally significant. Speak this spell somewhere you feel connected to the world around you, be it a forest, a field, a busy street… Do it wherever you feel at one with the universe.
What to Do:
1. Center and ground.
2. Say:
Spirit of the universe,
Help me maintain my connection to the energy beyond myself.
Help me remain open to the Divine in the world around me.
May I be receptive to the joy and love that flows to me.
May this channel stay open and free,
That I may in turn share with the universe what is unique Within me.
Let our dance carry on always.
So may it be.
Ritual to Review Your Spiritual Beliefs
Hanging on to outdated spiritual beliefs and practices is a waste of energy. Doing something because you’ve always done it means you’re performing actions without mindfulness. It’s healthy to examine your spiritual beliefs, values, and practices every once in a while. Doing it will help keep you focused on what is meaningful to you and help you direct your energy in the most productive, supportive ways in your pursuit of self-care.
What You Need:
♦ Matches or lighter
♦ Meditation incense (your preferred scent or blend) and censer
♦ White candle and candleholder
♦ Self-care journal and pen
What to Do:
1. Center and ground.
2. Light the incense. Light the candle, saying, “Bless my self-reflection. May my review of my spiritual life be honest and open, and guide me in the direction that works for my highest good. May it be so.”
3. Meditate on the following questions:
♦ What are your current values?
♦ How do you currently feel drawn to expressing your spirituality?
♦ If you work with a specific deity (or deities), do you still feel that your energy resonates with theirs?
♦ Are you feeling drawn to explore new areas of spiritual expression?
♦ Does the practice of certain elements of your spirituality feel perfunctory?
♦ What elements of your practice are your favorites and still bring you comfort or joy in performing?
4. Make notes in your journal as you think through these questions. Note anything else you feel that isn’t covered here.
5. If this is the first time you’re reviewing your spiritual practice, look at your answers and meditate on them. Is there something you need to stop doing? Is there something new to incorporate? Note your plan. If this is a follow-up evaluation, look at your plan and your previous answers and plan and ask yourself how the changes have gone. What has been a success? What has been difficult but ultimately a benefit? What has been chaotic and really not helpful at all?
6. When you are done, thank the universe for its guidance and allow the candle and incense to burn out.
Tip:
♦ Use your Spiritual Vision Board (if you created one) to help you review your spirituality. Compare how you feel and what your current values are to those expressed on your Spiritual Vision Board.