I grew up naturally athletic despite being an indoor kid. In truth I was perfectly content to spend my days reading, drawing, or acting out elaborate stories with my action figures or my sister’s Barbies. When I found music I transitioned into hanging out in my friends’ finished basements or lounging in other friend’s rooms all day getting as deeply existential as a teenage pothead could get.
I attribute this athleticism to genetics. Not only is my father naturally fit other than a beer gut, but I was passed that often dreaded ADHD gene. Whether I was sitting around fidgeting or bouncing off the walls annoying everyone in proximity; I was constantly expending energy. This led to a physique that grew to be six feet and one inch tall and a hundred and seventy-five pounds.
At seventeen I stopped growing and everything just sort of fell into place. For the next twenty years I maintained a waistline that teetered between thirty-one and thirty-three inches. I wore medium shirts and struggled to find a thirty-four-inch inseam in all the jeans I bought. I was sinewy.
I started needing to work out to maintain MY ideal body around thirty-five. About a year after I got married I stopped going to the gym for all the typical reasons. My waistline began to expand. Today I look at myself in the mirror amongst a pandemic that has kept me at home more than normal and I hate what I see.
Now my pants are a thirty-six waist and growing. My shirts are large. I buy extra-large hoodies and wear them as often as I can so that people can’t see the spare tire that circles my midsection. My brother loves to tap my belly while taunting me saying, “Someone’s been eating.” He’s joking and I know that, but he is shaming my body. And I feel that shame every time I look at myself. What’s worse is my blood pressure is rising too.
I believe in a body positive image. Lizzo inspires me by embracing her body while showing it off in sexy clothes that, I assume, make her feel great. I would never shame another person for their body because I honestly believe that all shapes and sizes are beautiful. But me, I have an idea of what I should look like. Evidently my brother does too.
Let’s Make This Happen
I enjoy the gym. The adrenaline and endorphins are an addiction I’d love to jump off the wagon for. And then insert excuse, excuse, excuse because I have a full-time job, blogs to write, and books to research. I’m already waking up at 3am to tackle that whole mess while my husband heads to the gym every morning. And I am jealous. The weekends are for my son and my husband, so the five hours I get five days a week are what is mine to manage these projects. And yet, I know I need a restructuring.
I listen to podcasts while driving to and from work. I’m never caught up on all the Witchy things I want to listen to. The other day, on the way home, I was listening to Desperate House Witches; it was their episode with Durgadas Allon Duriel, the author of The Little Work. They were talking about high magick when the host mentioned their weight gain due to the pandemic. They asked if magick for weight loss was high or low magick. Durgadas gave this amazing answer about how it could be either, as could anything, because it all depends on your intention behind the work.
This was an ah-ha moment for me. I imagine that if you had been sitting next to me you would have seen the cartoon light bulb illuminate over my head. I thought, I can do that. I can definitely do that. I could craft a spell to help me lose this weight. I could do magick to regain my self-esteem. To rid myself of an irrational fear of mirrors lower than my neck. I could do magick to help lower my blood pressure. I had it in me to create high magick that wasn’t about obtaining a beach body but rather getting back my health, both mental and physical, back.
I don’t like not liking myself. I am tired of making excuses for not working on my body while bemoaning how I feel about it. I don’t want to starve myself and I deserve to feel happy when I see what I can accomplish. There aren’t spells for weight loss, at least none that I can imagine would work. And there shouldn’t be. I can’t imagine magick that would melt the fat away effortlessly. Like everything, fitness is going to take some work. I needed to approach this spell with the mindset that there are attainable attributes to call upon to achieve this goal.
Show the World that Something Good Can Work
What does it take to become fit? A mindset that you can achieve your goals, energy, focus, and some self-esteem to push you over the hurdles. With these ideas in mind I dove in to craft a spell that would help me reach my goals.
I always refer to Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs when deciding on what I’m about to use for a spell. You should definitely consider this if you give this magick a go. I don’t have every herb. I live on a budget, but this book helps me identify the purposes for herbs I often already have. In the case of this spell, you can buy all these ingredients at the local grocery store.
What you’ll need:
Anise – to maintain and regain youth.
Sage – to help manifest the desire.
Bay Leaf – to instill strength.
Cinnamon – to attain success.
Rosemary – to strengthen your focus.
Nutmeg – to maintain your health.
Allspice – to promote healing.
A red candle – for energy, health, and vitality.
A yellow candle – for focus, mental strength, and clarity.
An orange candle – for good health, weight loss, and self-esteem.
A bag to place the spell into.
Tonight, as I write this, the full moon will be in Aries. There is actually an amazing amount of energy focused on starting new things during this moon phase. I chose to harness that energy. Crafting this spell as the waning moon sets is a perfect time to envision that all the things that are holding me back are leaving me.
I have this awesome tree trunk altar that gets all the moonlight and sunlight any Witch could want. I set to work casting my magick in that liminal space where the first night of the full moon sets and the sun takes its place. This allows for the spell to pull the power of both our main celestial bodies.
My rituals shouldn’t look like yours. I won’t tell you how to open your Circle or protect your magick but I do all of that first. Then, like I’ve said before, I hold each herb and talk to it. I tell it what it is for and I thank it for the energy I am harnessing from it as I placed each herb into a bowl.
Next, I talk to my candles. I tell them what their color means. I draw the energy from them and then I drip their wax into the bowl over the herbs.
I did a little dance and turned myself around; otherwise known as, completed my ritual. And then I placed the wax and herbs into a bag I would begin wearing soon.
Then I walked away from my stump. I left the spell there. It is still there as I write this, collecting the final beams of the setting moon. When the sun rises in roughly an hour I will collect my spell back and begin to use its power for my own self betterment. It has collected a complete day and night of full moon energy. It will be ready soon.
And It Can Work for You
Fortunately, this spell doesn’t have a lot of caveats. It could be performed on any full moon. You don’t need the same goal as me either. You don’t need to want your fitness back. Maybe you want to be better in school or work. Perhaps you have some other goal.
Crafting this spell has everything to do with the intention of the magick. It’s all about a consistent drawing of the energy from herbs and candles/color magick. You should adapt this according to your needs because no one’s magick and intention is stronger than yours.
But You Will Always Get What You Want
The magick in this spell is about placing an intention into a bag which will be worn by you. It’s that ever-present reminder that you have an intention, a goal that you mean to accomplish. Creating magick, any magick, is about drawing energy into yourself in order to affect a desired change. This bag is what you can draw from.
We achieve our outcomes through dedication and persistence. Magick is just a tool to help us get there. You can get everything you want. Using this magick, this spell just helps you along your way. So give it a shot. Try this spell or adapt it to fit your needs. I believe in your outcomes. As my editor often says to me, “I super believe in you.”
Follow me on Instagram to keep up with my blogs, daily workouts, and information on my forthcoming book, How Witchcraft Saved My Life: Practical Advice for Transformative Magick.
This article was inspired by Two Door Cinema Club’s song Something Good Can Work.
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