#bedridden witch

Spring is unfolding outside my window, and though I can’t always meet it with the full energy I long for, I still find ways to greet it. Here is how I've been supporting myself lately as a witch who often has little to no energy:

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀໒꒱. 🌱 ⠈ ⠂ ⠄ ‹𝟹 🌷͙֒ . ₊˚ *ੈ

🪟 If able, I crack the window open and let the breeze in. I take my time to notice the new sensations that come with it. I feel the fresh air against my skin, smell the lingering scent of flowers and soil, hear birds chatter in nearby trees, and try to name their songs. If I am unable to, I still try to look outside my window and watch the clouds drift by. Sometimes I will turn on my little fan for air flow, and light a candle that reminds me of Spring.

🌼 I sit in sunlight when it finds me, letting it warm my face with its strength. I have prisms hanging in my windows that cast rainbows across my room as well.

🌧 If it's raining, I thank it when it falls. I notice the sounds and watch the droplets hit the window. Sometimes I'll open my window just a crack to let in that cleansing energy.

🍵 I steep tea with herbs that remind me of green places, like mint and lemon balm. If I'm unable to do so, I thoughtfully sip my water, reminding myself of the ways I'm connected to this element and its role in nature. Alternatively, I drink pre-made tea that I steeped ahead of time (when I had the spoons to do so) and kept in the fridge. (Tea usually keeps in this way nicely in an airtight container to drink throughout the next few days, in my experience. It will last longer if the tea has a higher level of acidity. Make sure you dispose of it if it gets cloudy or tastes off.)

🪴 I keep crystals and houseplants near my bed and couch, where I often sit. I have a pothos and spiderplant that are both very low maintenance.

🧺 I try to change my clothes and be intentional with my color choices. For example, soft greens and earthy browns as small reminders that I am part of the world turning. If I don't have the energy to change, I try to use the intentions of whatever colors I'm wearing/are around me to motivate me for the day.

📖 In days past, I picked flowers and placed them into vases. On low-energy days, I'll tuck fallen petals into pages of books, preserving little moments of Spring. Keeping around flowers, plants, or even just a jar of soil makes me feel more connected to the earth this season.

🍓 I keep simple, easy snacks nearby if I can't get up. Right now, I have a container of peanuts (grounding, stability, energy, prosperity). If I have the energy to get up, I try to eat at least one thing that is fresh and in season.

🎧 I listen to music that connects me with the energy I want to focus on. I have designated playlists for different seasons, feelings, and intentions. (I may post them on here someday.) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀. .⠀ ‧˚⠀⠀ 🫧 🪺⠀ ɞ⠀⠀ ˚‧｡⠀⠀ :*･゜ 𓍊𓋼𓍊

Even if your practice looks like rest, like noticing, like being gentle with yourself, you’re aligning with the turning of the earth, and that’s magic enough. Let Spring’s renewal be a reminder of that.

I made a series for The Wheel of the Year many years ago but I realize that not everyone follows it and dividing suggestions into the four seasons as well might be more helpful for some!

Spring 🌿

Collect the first rain of the season and keep it in a jar

Drink floral or fruit teas

Burn floral or fruit scented candles

Light a candle or turn on an electric candle.

Open the curtains to let light in. 

Visualize a light cleaning each and every room in your home.

Decorate with dried, fresh or fake flowers.

Spray a cleansing spray throughout your bedroom.

Clean an area in your home, big or small. (It could be as simple as making a pile of trash so it’s easier to move later.)

Bathe yourself (either in the tub or sponge bath style). Infuse some herbs/flowers into the water!

Water your plants and whisper blessings to them.

Plant something new! It can be as simple as a beansprout in a paper cup.

Meditate and imagine yourself out in your favorite area in spring.

Make a terrarium.

Spray floral water in the air and on your bedsheets.

Watch for and welcome the returning birds

Learn about local plants.

Crack open all your windows to let in some fresh air.

Bedridden witch: Garden edition

Summer ☀️

Make sun water/tea

Drink fruit teas, infused water or juices

Burn floral or fruit candles

Decorate with flowers and crystals.

Wake up earlier than usual to enjoy a full day of light.

Try to be awake and witness both the sunrise and sunset.

Decorate your windows with rainbow prisms.

Make flower crowns with fresh, dried or paper flowers.

Make sure sunlight and fresh air can reach you.

Enjoy some fresh fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds.

Decorate with/wear/create things with bright colors:

Decorate a new pot for your plants (painting, sharpies, ribbons, etc.)

If you can, put a bird feeder outside your window or just watch them as they fly by.

Pour an offering of water for the plants (indoors, outside or out the window).

Have a picnic (outside, on the kitchen floor or in bed).

Find a way to incorporate honey into your day (scrubs, food, tea, etc.)

Burn beeswax candles.

Listen to music that just sounds like summertime.

Autumn 🍂

Collect the first rain of the season and keep it in a jar

Drink spiced tea, apple ciders

Infuse berries into water.

Burn spiced, woodsy or autumn scented candles

Eat things like breads, nuts, grapes, pomegranates, pies, apples and root vegetables.

Start a new project like crocheting or knitting. This is also a great time to finish that project you’ve been avoiding.

Wear and decorate and create with browns, golds, dark greens, oranges and yellows.

Decorate your home to make it look more like Autumn (fake or real leaves, acorns, paper cutouts, etc.)

Create a picnic/feast wherever is reasonable, with a little bit of everything.

Pull up a video of leaves falling or a fire crackling.

Pumpkin pie, pumpkin spiced-things, pumpkin seeds.

Decorate with small pumpkins, paint them or draw on them if carving is too high-energy.

Create an altar honoring loved ones who have passed on, either a material one or a photo album online.

Pull up a video of a burning fire or light candles.

Turn off all of the lights and sit/lay in darkness.

Visualize your wards and boost your home protection.

Do spirit work/leave offerings for the spirits.

Burn incense/make a spray that smells of spices (cloves, basil, etc.)

Watch spooky/witchy movies.

Winter ❄️

Collect the first snow/make snow water and keep it in a jar

Drink seasonal teas, ciders and hot cocoa

Burn spruce, pine or winter scented candles

Watch gifs/videos of snow, ice forming, fire crackling, etc.

Get/make a small wreath and keep it indoors!

Keep clear quartz and snowflake obsidian around.

Make paper snowflakes! Or find an app/website where you can do a digital one.

Use your heat to draw sigils on frosted windows.

Put a bird feeder outside your window so you get winter visitors!

Get empty glass ornaments and fill them with herbs/pine needles/things that remind you of winter and hang them around.

Get some cute little snow globes. 

Decorate with winter colors! White, blue, silver, grey, dark green, etc.

Create an apple pomander with cloves or dried orange slices.

Decorate with evergreen boughs, holly, pine cones, etc.

Wash your face with snow/cold water.

Make rosehip, peppermint, vanilla, rooibos or spiced tea.

Step outside/open a window to feel the cold air (if you live somewhere warm, do this in the early morning/night).

Handcraft gifts for loved ones or write heartfelt cards/letters to the people you care about.

Put birdseed outside/a bird feeder by your window.

Make a simmer pot, or use this idea to create a scented spray.

Bedridden witch: Winter edition (more ideas in this post!)

You may also like:

Bedridden witch series

Bedridden witch: Wheel of the year edition

Bedridden witch: Elements edition

Bedridden witch: Weather edition

Bedridden witch: Nature edition

Witchcraft for the chronically fatigued

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

I started to read it with skepticism (my main way to take everything… yeah, I know, weird coming from a WITCH) but this book surprise me pleasantly.

Written with an evident good intention, the book doesn’t feel pedantic, and neither bring that “obnoxious positive energy of good vibes only not allowed to feel anything bad” but bring a nurturing, warm, caring and patient energy. Easy to understand, no technical language, no specific psychological words. Not big chunks of text that could make us ADHD pals get lost. Short, concise, easy steps.

Focused in the practical side, is not a book that you will read and automatically discover the hidden truth of your mind (even when it has a few very interesting quotes to keep always on sight), but a book of tools to improve yourself.

If you are looking for epiphanies in each page, is not your book. If you are looking for what to do for your own, or even as a complementary task with your therapy, heck yeah. Like, I kinda hate copy rituals from others but this book has a few that make me say DANG I NEED TO DO THAT.

General review: 8.5/10 with 4.5 stars, which is a lot to a witch book (for me, mostly of the witch books are under the 6/10, so that say a lot). General a great book with some small “BUT” here and there.

Positive Points:

Even when she mentions that womens struggle more with self-care, she also take the detail to mention that’s not a “woman-exclusive problem” and the book is “genderless”.

Emphasis of the self-care in “small doses each day” instead “huge changes”, great to aim to chronic ill people.

Consideration of the complexity of the self-care, interconnected to many other aspects of the life, going against the toxic “easy to fix/solutions” mentality like “exercise fix depression” or “yoga to erase mentally struggles”.

Consideration to the personal limitations like income, free time, so the author presents some non-classist, non-ableist, non-neurotypical views.

Hygge concept, which can fit into a semi “open culture” that take “cottagecore” and remove the classism of it to turn it into a more plausible, easy to access- daily- mindfulness mentality.

The psychological aspect of the book is 10/10.

No medical bullshit, misinformation or “herbs that heal everything”.

Clear separation between “herbal magic” and “herbalism” as they don’t make them mutually exclusive. * happy green witch noises *

The book is not focused to teach about basic magic knowledge and it point it, and yet take a moment to explain some super basic stuffs to make sure no new witches gets lost.

Small attack against the mainstream use of manifestations as if was a harry potter spell to get stuffs, without deny the effective aspect of it.

Mention the “Divine” a few times but more like a “higher being/ cosmos” and not like “The Deity”, neither mention the “God and Goddess”. No Wiccan tints.

Many good and very interesting easy to make rituals. Some are even more close to a psychological exercise and helpful daily tips than a ritual. She remembers us recurrently that the reader can manipulate them and change them accordingly their needs.

Sporadic considerations to people in different geographic places, chronic ill people, people with triggers, and others; stepping aside of the classical self-care books aimed to body abled neurotypical ones.

Don’t do guilt pressure like “do this or you will never heal”, instead she points that you must do what you can, allowing yourself to stop if is too much. 10/10

Don’t fall into the “things must be done in this way” mentality. She says some things like extinguish the candle or the incense instead of let them burn completely. Casting the circle and the anti-clockwise movement, are mentioned as she remembers us that is our path, our ways and we can change them as we need it.

The “if you are serious depressed, check a professional if you can”. Maybe is too obvious to point it, but the witch community lately is too mixed with the dangerous “illnesses are symptoms of a spiritual growth”, so I’m glad the author is not falling into that hole.

Food section. Not magical, but food. Edible. Curious that a self-care book pay attention to throw easy, pretty cheap recipes focusing in nutrition and not in calories, also mentioning vegan variations. 10/10

The author takes a second in remember to be careful with herbal teas and check any interaction with medication, just as warnings to pregnancy. 20/10

Good explication of the deity aspect of witchcraft, with emphasis in the worship part and how is a relationship that demand respect.

Non-religious. She points it in some places but only when is needed. Clear separation between religion and spirituality.

Full replacement of the Feng Shi (Closed practice) to explain about the Basic Elements of the Rooms (Very open).

No chakras mention, no karma.

Negative Points:

She mention that self-care is “a healthy mind, body and spirit”. Tricky when, in medicine and psychology, “healthy” is not a matter of yes or not, but more like “pathological grades”. Nobody is full healthy, but having a low grade of illnesses that don’t affect substantially the normal life. Besides that self-care is “the process of taking care of oneself with behaviors that promote health and active management of illness when it occurs”. But okay, I’m being annoyingly technical, I let it pass.

Some topics felt somehow rushed when it has so much room to explain, discuss and even rant.

I’m a hard anti capitalist ak broke af witch who get acne and lose hair each time I see the word “purchase”, so I feel forced to point that some of their rituals (and I quote the words of the book) “…most of them are easy and accessible, and others ask for minor purchases of herbs or stones…” (Page 13). But also mostly is “basic grocery stuffs” easy to replace, so I give half bad point lol.

Essential oils. Also quoted “…Essential oils may seem expensive…”. Double pain. But also point cheaper replacements and their dangerousness, so, half bad point.

She points that you can get a “negative outcome” by having a “creative visualization”, which sounded a little like “you can manifest yourself bad stuffs, control your ADHD, bad things happen because you don’t control your mind”. But again, is just me being a prick and looking for each detail.

Sometimes she kinda contradicts. In some point they say “…Rewiring your brain by repeating something is easy to do…” and a few lines later they say “…It can be very difficult to retrain your inner voice to be nurturing…”. So… is easy or not?

“Pregnant women”.

Mentions of Cultural appropriation:

-          The raffia fiber, ylang-ylang (I have not info about them, I don’t know nothing about their status of closed/open so I can’t say shit). -          Sage. Not smudging or white sage, but yet… sage… as if there are not enough other open herbs on the planet. -          She says to research about deities without consider the closed aspect of some of them (like Isis, Durga and Kuan Yin from the page 94). -          Talk about “Spirit Animals” without say they are closed to Native Americans, even when later add the variation of power animal and animal spirit (open versions of the Spirit Animals). -          Tibetan Bowls.

Today, I will take my medicine and drink orange juice and eat my easy crockpot pork roast and feel good about it. This is good enough.

Take care of yourselves, and may the return of the sun bring brightness into your hearts and homes.

The gods have decided to give me not one, but two kidney stones on the past five days. I am most certainly not getting out of bed today, but I got my cards, runes, and grimoire.

Ask me anything to keep me sane and keep my mind off of this calcified rock slicing it's way down my ureter!

Since creating my bedridden space witch post I’ve had many requests for one specifically on solar and lunar witchcraft, so I figured I’d make an expanded version on those topics!

Solar ☀️

Set up:

Decorate with sun-themed items

Wear sun jewelry

Collect crystals you associate with the sun

Hang red, orange or yellow curtains

Get a sun projector lamp

Make an altar for the sun

Hang a sunrise/sunset calendar

To do:

Make sun water, sun tea or sun oil

Spritz sun water on your pillow/bedding

Use sun water to cleanse; including your face/body by dabbing it on or using a washcloth

Make sun salts

Cleanse and charge items in the sun (if safe to do so)

Open the curtains and bask in the sun

Feel the warmth and strength of the sun

Drink teas with warm spices

Observe the different energies of the sun based on its position in the sky and utilize it in your practice [X]

Use The Sun tarot card as a base for a spell, enchantment or energy connection

Solar tarot spreads: [X] [X]

Sun sigils: [X] [X] [X]

Charge a solar light so you still have the energy of the sun on overcast days/long nights

Use a therapy light in the darker months

Other posts:

Sunrise / Noon / Sunset magic

Sun meditations

Sun spells: [X] [X] [X]

Helios/Sol

Ideas for using sun water

Lunar 🌙

Set up:

Decorate with moon-themed items

Wear moon jewelry

Collect crystals you associate with the moon/that are moon-shaped

Hang silver, white or pale blue curtains

Get a moon lamp

Make an altar for the moon

Hang a lunar calendar

To do:

Make moon water

Spritz moon water on your pillow/bedding

Use moon water to cleanse; including your face/body by dabbing it on or using a washcloth

Make moon salt

Cleanse and charge items under the moon

Open your window under the various phases of the moon

Feel the energy and strength of the moon

Drink sweet herbal teas, like jasmine or chamomile

Track the moon phases through an app

Observe the lunar cycle and the different energies it brings

Use The Moon tarot card as a base for a spell, enchantment or energy connection

Lunar tarot spreads: [X] [X]

Moon sigils: [X] [X]

Create a lunar month journal and note how each day feels

Other posts:

Selene/Luna SDVA

Full Moon + New Moon 2026 calendar

Farmer’s Almanac moon + sun

Uses for moon water

You may also like:

Bedridden witch series

Bedridden witch: Space edition

Bedridden witch: Elements edition

Bedridden witch: Weather edition

Bedridden witch: Nature edition

Set up:

Hang a lunar calendar

Hang posters of the solar system/planets

Hang constellation maps

Decorate your room with stars, moons and space-themed decorations or planetary symbols.

Create constellations/galaxies with glow in the dark stickers on your walls and ceiling

Collect crystals that you associate with the moon and other planets, or ones that are star/moon shaped

Get a moon lamp or a star/galaxy projector light

Create altars for the different planets

To do:

Make moon or sun water

Cleanse and charge objects under the moon (and sun, if safe for the objects)

Track the moon phases through an app

Observe the lunar cycle and the different energies it brings

Create a lunar month journal and note how each day feels

Determine what celestial events/phases bring you the most energy and use that time to recharge yourself or do more energy-intensive magic.

Charging items using celestial elements

Watch space documentaries

Explore NASA’s website and other information sites

Use apps to see space weather, images from NASA missions and space, and more

Open your window at night, even if you can’t see the night sky.

If you can see the sky, stargaze or watch the moon using your bare eyes, binoculars or a telescope.

Use an app to see the night sky (Stellarium, Sky Guide, SkyView, etc.)

Use planetary symbols as a way to connect to each planet/s energy

Use The Sun, The Moon and The Star tarot cards as a base for a spell, enchantment or energy connection.

Stellar divination

Meditate and picture yourself under the night sky/among it.

Galaxy energy work

Visualize planetary energy around yourself to help with warding

Celestial warding

Make constellation sigils / other example / celestial sigils

Observe and honor cosmic events (even if you can’t physically see them)

Almanac astronomy page

Study astrology

Make a cosmic spell (electric) candle

Create art inspired by the stars, planets, etc.

Space-themed tarot spreads [X] [X] [X] [X]

You may also like:

Bedridden witch: solar and lunar edition

Everyday magic for the cosmic witch

Cosmic altar and room ideas

Stellar color magic

Planet worship

Grounding methods for cosmic witches

Cosmic ambient tracks / mynoise.net + space

Bedridden witch: nature edition

Bedridden witch: weather edition

Bedridden witch masterpost

With contributions from:

@thatsleepymermaid, @whichwitchami, @she-who-treads-on-water and @baduhennasraven (@fernthewhimsical) thank you!