The Witch's Book of Self-Care: Magical Ways to Pamper, Soothe, and Care for Your Body and Spirit - Arin Murphy-Hiscock 2018

Daily Rituals
Spiritual Self-Care

Scheduling several brief moments to pause and touch base with yourself is an excellent way to stay on top of your spiritual self-care, providing yourself with plenty of opportunity to listen to your needs. The following activities can be termed rituals because they’re being done with awareness and intent. Habits are things you do as a matter of course, with regularity, but done without awareness.

Do you work nights or swing shifts? These aren’t necessarily morning or evening rituals; use them before you begin your daily activity, whatever time that may be.

Daily Kickoff Ritual

This ritual to start off your day offers you the chance to ground yourself and prepare yourself for coming activity. It also allows you the opportunity to attune or reaffirm your relationship with the elements. Schedule this 5-minute ritual into your morning sometime when you need a moment to pause.

Note: This activity calls for some kind of oracle set or tarot deck. It’s used as an open-ended, visual, inspirational trigger. If you don’t have any such set or deck, you can use a set of affirmation cards or the Jar of Inspiration from this chapter.

What You Need:

♦ Tarot deck or oracle deck (see previous note)

♦ Matches or lighter

♦ Incense and censer (scent of your choice)

♦ Candle and candleholder

♦ Small glass or dish of water

♦ Quartz crystal stone

What to Do:

1. Shuffle the deck of cards and place them on your work space before you begin.

2. Center and ground.

3. Light the incense, saying, “I honor the element of air. Bless my day with wisdom and clear communication.”

4. Light the candle, saying, “I honor the element of fire. Bless my day with joy and creativity.”

5. Hold your hand over the glass or dish of water, saying, “I honor the element of water. Bless my day with serenity and healing.”

6. Touch the crystal, saying, “I honor the element of earth. Bless my day with stability and prosperity.”

7. Take four slow breaths, visualizing breathing in each of the four elements one at a time. Say, “I honor the spirit of the universe, the spark of life that fills all things. May I shine with positivity and communicate blessings to those around me this day.”

8. Close your eyes and clear your mind. Select a card from the deck on your work space. You can either take the one off the top of the pile or cut the deck and take one from inside. Look at the image on it and allow associations to rise in your mind. Replace the card faceup on the top of the deck.

9. Close your eyes and center and ground again. Say, “I carry the benediction of the elements with me today. May I walk this day protected and blessed. So may it be.”

10. Clap your hands to end the ritual. Snuff out the candle and incense and go about your day.

Tip:

♦ If you like, before you finish your morning ritual, use your journal to make note of the card you pulled from the deck and jot down your associations or what it made you think of. At the end of the day, take a quick look in the booklet or a reference book associated with your deck and note the traditional associations of the card. What is similar? What is different?

End-of-Day Ritual

This ritual allows you an opportunity to recap the day, close the figurative door on anything you don’t want to carry forward, and prepare yourself for rest.

What You Need:

♦ Matches or lighter

♦ Candle and candleholder

♦ Self-care journal (optional; see instructions)

♦ Pen (optional; see instructions)

What to Do:

1. Center and ground.

2. Light the candle, saying, “I welcome the end of my day. May its blessings illuminate my spirit.”

3. Reflect on your day. You can do this with or without writing in your self-care journal. What were the best parts? What do you wish had gone differently? What are you grateful for?

4. Inhale slowly and deeply. As you exhale, release all the negativity from your day. Do this as many times as you feel necessary.

5. Say, “I thank the universe for my many opportunities and the lessons I encounter. May my sleep be restful and deep.”

6. Extinguish the candle.