First Steps

These mini-practices get you focusing on the spiritual, stepping back from worldly cares, and doing regular mini-acts of ritual. Never think you are sufficiently advanced to stop doing these. You draw your strength from the land. Think of these like daily stretches for a runner.

(If this seems like a lot, remember that it would be very normal for a Christian to pray at least once a day or say grace and make time for church on a Sunday. These things are not a "requirement" per se - I hate that kind of thing - but witchcraft is experiental, which is to say, the more witchy experiences you have the better. This is designed to be a LOT less strenuous than the requirements of a High Magic path, which are deliberately demanding and exacting. That's not how we roll. If you're ill or busy, that's totally OK - we walk with life, not against it, and shit happens.)

Daily Work

Spend 5 minutes a day on one of the following:

• Time spent sitting outside
• gratitude for the senses (i.e. when seeing something lovely, feeling happy, eating something nice, essentially doing mindfulness while focusing on an activity you are doing, and saying thank you for it)
• doing meditation
• doing a one-card tarot reading
• lighting a candle to a Power, feeding a spirit, tending their altar
• saying a prayer
• tending your plants
• Watching the sunset or sunrise
• Some other, similar moment in the day to pause, take stock, acknowledge the world around you, and say thank you.

The Weekly Walk

All witches on this path should go for a brief walk or sit-down in nature once a week, to attune with the land and observe the seasons. You can replace this with a morning working in the garden, or an evening spent stargazing, a hike, walking the dog, or sitting outside with a book. So long as you're outside.You can optionally replace it with one of these, BUT my instinct is to prioritise your walk, and then do one of these additionally:

• reading a book/articles/learning more about Pagan things (“Listening to a sermon”)
• Doing something to please your spirits, for example swimming for Poseidon, dancing for Bes, programming for Thoth, some hobby which helps you experience their attributes or gifts OR like charity work, such as working food bank for Demeter, something in Their name(“Putting a coin on the charity plate”)
• Making a craft project or engaging with the divine in other ways, like writing a hymn or making a mask or an altar cloth.
• Baking something with intention, or practising some other "crafty" Craft - knitting, drawing, making
• Planning big rituals
• Doing a “regular circle” - you know, just casting one up, eating with the divine, chatting, but not doing anything solemn and not caring over-much about feeling the divine or hearing them
• Doing a spell

The High Days

In your first year of practice, keep looking up the next High Day and marking the occasion. These rites will ensure you are working and doing ritual, even if you're not sure which Courts you wish to serve yet, and observing the movement of seasons. < back