lothlórien magic

Integrating your craft into your living space can be a daunting task. Unless you’re just a stellar housekeeper your home is likely at least a little messy all of the time. Unopened mail might still be sitting on the counter, that pile of laundry that you just didn’t get to this week is still on the floor or maybe you’ve just got a little extra clutter from too many missed spring cleanings. Despite how much these things can make your space feel distinctly un-magical, making your home into a sacred place for yourself can be quite simple.

Turning your home into a witchy haven isn’t for everyone, there are a lot of reasons to give it a go and everyone is going to have different motivations (or no motivation, which is ok too). Your home is where you base yourself. You sleep, eat and come together with loved ones there. Using witchcraft to ensure that space is always positive and energetic can improve the quality of the time you spend there, help you unwind more easily and give you a place of stillness in the midst of the chaos of life. Personally, I turned my home into a magic space to bring more focus on my craft, I take more time writing in my spiritual journal, traveling the realms and just generally maintaining my craft when my home looks and feels like a witchy home.

Start off just working on one room. It can be your kitchen, bedroom, living room, any room that you spend a decent amount of time in. It isn’t necessary to do a huge cleaning and wear yourself out, doing a little bit here and there can make a substantial  improvement over time and you’ll be a lot more likely to continue maintaining your home instead of getting worn out and giving up.

Now, I’m certainly not your expert on cleaning, for those of you who really need help with this step I suggest checking out Unfuck Your Habitat. Personally, I like to do a deep cleaning using as few chemical cleaners as I can manage, I make all of my own cleaning agents with the purpose of magical as well as physical cleansing.  

Cleaning Recipes

All Purpose Disinfectant Spray/Wash:

I use this for almost everything. I mix up 10 parts warm water with one part white vinegar and a few drops of essential oil OR I let the vinegar water sit with fresh or dried herbs in it for about a week before using it to clean. The herbs you use here can change depending on what your space needs. For example I use lavender for protection, purification and peacefulness. Basil draws wealth and soothes tempers between lovers. Orange is good for luck and wealth (though NOT good for cats so if you have kitties stay away from orange oil!). And mint is good for healing. This is great for wiping down counters, cleaning windows and mopping.

Shower Cleaner:

Cleaning showers is one of my least favorite tasks and trying to do it with safe cleaning products can be a nightmare but I’ve got a solution that does the trick. This isn’t so much a magical cleaning product (though I’m sure you could turn it into one) but it’s certainly a handy one to have around. Mix one part warm white vinegar with one part liquid dish soap in a spray bottle. It does require a bit of scrubbing if your shower is bad but compared to every other DIY shower cleaner I’ve tried it’s a miracle.

Floors

Sweeping has long been used by witches as a method of cleansing our homes magically and while a lot of sources will tell you to reserve a broom for the task and to sweep just above the floor to properly cleanse the area I just do it all at once. Who has time to sweep twice? I can do the same magical task with a little intent and focus while I’m also cleaning up pesky crumbs and cat hair.

Vacuuming is perhaps a less common way to tidy up the energy of a room but I find it works just as well as sweeping does! I make sure that when I empty a vacuum bag or dustpan I do it in the can outside to make sure I’m not just shuffling energy around in my house.

Mopping is another excellent mundane cleaning task for witches, especially when it comes to entryways and exits to the house. In addition to picking grime up off of your floor your mop water can be charged and used to lay down spells. I like using herbs for my mop water usually but once a year in the spring I mop with sun charged water to bring the vibrant spring/summer energy into my house and once a year in the fall I mop with moon charged water to welcome the introspective fall/winter energy in.

Doors and Windows

Doors and windows are important, they both protect our homes from the unwanted and welcome us in every day. When I make a magical wash for my doors and windows I like to use cinnamon, for protection, healing and enhancing my craft or, if I feel like I need a serious boost on my home protection or I need to break a curse I use chili pepper, which has the added bonus of strengthening love ties. In addition both of these are bug repellant.

One suggestion I would make is when you are cleaning your house you should try to have windows open. This allows fresh air to circulate into your home and it allows an outlet for all of the stagnant energy that you’ll be stirring up. Doors can be left ajar as well if you aren’t worried about pets taking themselves outdoors. Obviously this isn’t something you can do all the time, very hot or very cold weather would put a lot of strain on you heating/AC bill and it’s always best not to let the rain in. 

Immediately post cleaning is a good time to place sigils on doors and windows as well. I like to use my Binding Chalk to make a line just in front of doors and windows, it acts very similar to having a line of salt in the same place.

Bedrooms

Bedrooms can be an excellent place to do magic. If you share a bedroom with a lover spells to enhance your relationship are favored. Tucking away herbal pillows or lighting candles can draw honesty and good communication for you and your partner or you could try something a little spicier and use spells intended to ignite a little passion. 

If your bedroom is a solitary place it can be an excellent place to do dreaming magic, to meditate and to do spells for gentle self improvement.

In a child’s bedroom protective magic or sweet dream spells would be a good idea. A lot of small children have a fear of monsters and when I was little my parents would use “monster spray” every night to help me sleep. I know now that it was just water but infuse the water with lavender and it could easily double as a sleep aiding and protective spell.

A Few More Magical Home Ideas

Enchant the mirrors in your house to give everyone who looks into them a boost in their self esteem/body image.

Place a candle on the stove to symbolize the hearth fire tradition

Make a magic welcome mat that draws in good company and keeps away the bad

Pay close attention to the sort of energy your decor creates and adjust it to help create the energy you want in your home.

Is the TV the center of your home? Electronics can drastically change the feel of a space, try moving it to a less central spot and focus your rooms on something else

Playing music and changing the scent in a room can suffice for a quick energetic shift. Try setting a small pot of water with cranberries, orange peel, cinnamon or mint on the stove to simmer.

Get rid of stuff! I say this for people like myself who have trouble letting go of anything. Your stuff hangs onto energy. Gifts from people you don’t like? Stop being polite and letting their energy invade your house. Chuck it. Anything that reminds you of past relationships can go. In fact, cleaning house post breakup is super important! Get rid of any lingering reminders, wash their smell out of everything and clean your mattress thoroughly.

If it’s broken do away with it. I know, I know, you’re planning to get around to fixing it eventually. How often do you actually do that though? If you aren’t willing to sit down right now to fix it you probably won’t ever get to it. Throw it away or give it to someone who will have a use for it.

If you haven’t used it in the last year, chances are you won’t use it in the next year either. Get rid of it. 

Make a habit of de-cluttering in small ways every day. Don’t let the mail pile up, clean up dishes left in odd rooms, pick up laundry, and just generally put things back where they belong. This goes a long way toward keeping the energy flow moving through your home smoothly.

 Put bells on your doors. Bells help to clear energy, every time you open a door that room gets a little cleansing boost.

Cleaning your house can be turned into more than just house magic. You can visualize yourself sweeping away worries or scrubbing old habits that aren’t serving you away as well.

Bake bread. This really falls more under the heading of kitchen witchcraft but the smell of baking bread (or cookies!) wafting through your home can alter the energy in lovely ways and it’s also great for bringing prosperity to the house.

It's easy for us to forget that we don't need to cast spells for money. Naturally, it's one of the first things that people want to conjure, along with love and curses. But what is money but a means to an end? What are you purchasing or what to do you need to pay off that has you seeking to do a spell for money? Do you need to pay a bill? Is it time for dinner and there's no food in the house? Have you been eyeing a particularly handsome example of craftsmanship, but do not have the money to give?

Almost everything that you might think to cast a money spell for can be achieved by bypassing the money spell and working for the thing itself. Money is not magical. Money does not automatically pay for what you need. If you are like me and terrible with money, doing a money spell is just going to put money in your hands. It's not going to ensure you spend the money on what you need to spend it on, and once it's gone you better be happy with what you used it for. So, why not witch for what you want/need, and not the means to get it?

If you do a spell for groceries instead of money, you are opening about 30 different roads for those groceries to show up. Neighbors might bring over extra food, family might shower you in leftovers, you might even strike a lucky jackpot and win free groceries. But when you spell for the MONEY for groceries, you are immediately shutting half those avenues for food down.

Hello witches! Here are some activities to do for Yule!

1. Enchant hot chocolate.

I always love a good cup of hot chocolate on a cold day, so why not make that a bit more magical? I always add peppermint to mine to wake myself up. You can make your hot chocolate homemade and put your own flavors into it. You can also try and make sigils with the foam!

2. Decorate your altar or sacred space.

You can decorate altar with a tiny tree or even have one in your room! You can also hang up things that remind you of Yule. If you work with any deities, you could decorate their space with what they like.

3. Make witchy presents for people.

Gifts could be as complex as a witch bottle or as simple as enchanting some jewelry. The sky is the limit!

4. Make self-love spells.

Sometimes the holidays can be a bit rough so doing self-love spells can really help! I made a witch bottle of self-love for a friend of mine. You can make sigils or even full rituals for self-love.

5. Enchant greeting cards.

If you send greeting cards to your relatives or friends, you can place sigils on them for good luck. You can place some money in for prosperity. You can simply cleanse the card and place your intention on it.