{"id":157,"date":"2015-05-29T17:21:04","date_gmt":"2015-05-29T21:21:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/oathbound\/?p=157"},"modified":"2015-05-29T17:27:10","modified_gmt":"2015-05-29T21:27:10","slug":"too-busy-to-witchcraft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/oathbound\/2015\/05\/too-busy-to-witchcraft\/","title":{"rendered":"Too Busy to Witchcraft"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

So I\u2019ve been woefully absent, my friends, as you may have noticed. On top of work and my regular adulting regiment I\u2019m now back in school working on a teaching certificate in secondary education so that I can start promoting witchcraft in public schools<\/span> because the children are our future. Things are good, but I\u2019m tired all the time and it\u2019s harder to carve out large chunks of time to write.<\/p>\n

Given that I\u2019ve been so busy, I thought I\u2019d address that very subject this time around with relation to Craft. What do you do when you\u2019re too busy and you start feeling disconnected?<\/p>\n

\"Oliver<\/a>
Oliver has a very busy month ahead.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Little Things<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no single thing you can do that automatically makes you a witch and ensures that you\u2019ll never feel like you\u2019re somehow failing in your practice. Individual traditions may have particular requirements, but, generally speaking, your witchhood manifests in wider tendencies present in your life. What attitudes and practices tend<\/em> to exist in your day-to-day that have the flavor of witchcraft (mmmm)?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m yet to meet the person who becomes an initiate or reads their first introductory book and then their WHOLE LIFE INSTANTLY CHANGES OMG. It may feel<\/em> like it\u2019s all changing, but just on a practical level they\u2019re still getting up every day, going to work, and otherwise being who they always were. Worldviews shift gradually. Habits shift gradually. It takes time, and it\u2019s little things built up over the years (and then one day you look back and your life really has<\/em> totally changed).<\/p>\n

This is good news for the person who feels disconnected or like a failure because they\u2019re not devoting hours a week to something explicitly witchy. Remember: it\u2019s little things over time. You don\u2019t have to be conducting long, elaborate ceremonies with a coven every week. You don\u2019t have to wake up at 5 am and meditate.* You don\u2019t have to keep trying to force yourself to like hiking or camping. You don\u2019t have to start growing an herb garden and using the word \u201ctincture\u201d like you just discovered it (because you did).<\/p>\n

Instead, look for tiny things that you actually can <\/em>manage that inspire the feeling of connectedness. Here are some ideas that I\u2019ve collected from both myself and my assorted colleagues:<\/p>\n

Turn the things you already do into magical acts.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Being a witch doesn\u2019t have to mean adopting a new set of hobbies and abandoning all of your old ones. You don\u2019t have to suddenly be good at journaling, harvesting wild plants, or bottling your own essential oils. It\u2019s not fair to punish yourself for (first) assuming that those things are required and (second) not automatically being good at them (or even liking them). Instead, keep doing the things you\u2019ve always loved and come up with ways to relate them to your Craft. Are you an athlete? Do you love cooking? Are you an artist or a writer? What can you do to make those things magical?<\/p>\n

I already told you about how I tied my practice of archery to my work with the Horned God<\/a>. I\u2019ve done similar things with my writing. I like to use magical inks and paper, which can make even the most mundane note-taking an act of Craft (this is good for you students). I scrawl sigils into my textbooks and journals. I\u2019ve spelled pens, books, and letters. Suddenly, school, work, and journaling (something I did long before discovering witchcraft) can be a part of my magical practice.<\/p>\n

My friend Acacia makes magical jewelry<\/a> and dedicates her morning workouts to one of her gods. Corvus is the head of her household and likes to incorporate witchy themes into her decorating. It\u2019s not ritual or magic per se, but it does mean that the mood is always right should she feel inspired.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve got a friend who uses enchanted sugar in her coffee every morning (mmm\u2026there\u2019s that witchcraft flavoring again). I\u2019ve got another who turned his volunteer job at an animal rescue agency into an exploration of shapeshifting. \u00a0For my friend Hawk, her police work has become an expression of her devotion to her gods.<\/p>\n

The possibilities are really only limited by the witch. The key is breaking out of the box that says that witchcraft is only certain things at certain times with certain people. What are you already<\/em> doing in your life? How can you incorporate your own Craft? What might witchcraft look like at your job? Online? Taking care of your kids? When you\u2019re relaxing with a favorite pastime? Even sleeping (dream work, anyone)?<\/p>\n

Find ways to interact with other witches.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to be in a coven or have gobs of time to go to open rituals. This could be something simple like following witchcraft blogs and YouTube channels. Even if you never leave a comment, you\u2019re still impacted by other people doing something similar in real time. It can make you feel like you\u2019re a part of a bigger movement instead of just adrift.<\/p>\n

Given that, it\u2019s worth actually commenting. Online networking is a great way to inspire your Craft, and there are a million ways to do it now. It can also lead to things beyond the computer, in the event you are looking for physical contact.<\/p>\n

And if you are<\/em> in a coven, be sure to keep in touch, even if you need to take a hiatus. \u00a0Send the periodic text, meet up for lunch, or chat on Facebook. \u00a0You can be too busy for committed coven work, but try to find the time to pick up the phone.<\/p>\n

Maintain some kind of altar or magical workspace.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t have to be fancy, and there are no rules about what should or shouldn\u2019t go on it. \u00a0But make it so that it inspires some kind of emotional reaction when you see it. \u00a0It should make you feel<\/em> like something is afoot. \u00a0You don\u2019t have to spend a ton of time there, but even the act of dusting it, rearranging it, or changing out an assortment of offerings (if your Craft involves some kind of devotional work with spirits or gods) can instantly reconnect you and inspire future work.<\/p>\n

Finally, there\u2019s a chance you\u2019re not as busy as you think you are.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most of us are pretty busy. Some of us are super busy. Multiple jobs, a school schedule, taking care of kids, and then coming home after an exhausting day and barely having the energy to perform basic self-care are all part of daily\u00a0reality. I don\u2019t want to gloss over any of that or shame people for legitimately being honest-to-god overworked.<\/p>\n

That said, some of us are just on Tumblr too much.<\/p>\n

We might feel<\/em> busy, but often it\u2019s just a case of poor time management skills. This is why some of my undergrads can regale me with exciting tales from weeknight binges and out-of-town sports games but seem to be incapable of turning in assignments on time (even after crying in my office and begging for an extension). They\u2019re genuinely exhausted, and usually the issue isn\u2019t laziness per se. They just don\u2019t know how<\/em> to be in school, despite being in school. It\u2019s a question of priorities and practice, and it takes many of them their whole college careers (and a few bad grades) to get a handle on it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve found the key is paying attention to those smaller chunks of time that are easiest to waste. Twenty minutes here, ten minutes there, that hour before bed, etc. A multi-hour chunk of time for an elaborate group ritual is a luxury that some people just can\u2019t afford, but plenty of us could manage a half hour here or there for some Craft-related something-or-other, especially if we start thinking of it as self-care. What are you doing (really) with those unaccounted for moments of your day? How much time do you spend playing games on your phone? Watching TV? Hanging out on Facebook?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying not to do those things or even that they\u2019re unimportant. I\u2019ve just found that people often aren\u2019t aware of how much time really goes into them. I know people who can spend hours every day just screwing around on their phones or computers (not working, mind, just absentmindedly scrolling or following a trail of links) without realizing how much time has passed. It can be truly horrifying to see what we lose that could be better spent elsewhere.<\/p>\n

You may even be able to come up with ways to make your TV or Internet time magical. \u00a0Corvus loves reading fanfic, and she can do it for hours. \u00a0But what used to be a passive hobby is now something that she\u2019s trying to use to engage as a witch. \u00a0She\u2019s done spellwork on behalf of her favorite writers (and at their request no less), sought out ritual ideas in her favorite stories, and otherwise begun tying something that used to feel separate and unrelated into her Craft. \u00a0Theoretically, this could work for an infinite number of other activities and interests.<\/p>\n

So the next time you\u2019re feeling guilty for not devoting enough time to your practice, consider shifting your perspective on those things that you already<\/em> do. \u00a0What does your day-to-day life include? \u00a0Which of those things are actually priorities? \u00a0Of those things, how can you incorporate your Craft?<\/p>\n

*Which is what popular witch books always seem to want me to do. Just meditate! Oh, meditation is the solution! Just twenty minutes! It\u2019ll fix everything! Everyone needs to meditate! Look at all this science! Eighteen years of this and it\u2019s still never happening. Stop trying to make \u201cfetch\u201d happen. It\u2019s not going to happen.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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