Wicca Day to Day

I recently asked the Google+ communities about what I should write about next.  I got some great suggestions and promise to try and get to them all, but one struck me the most.  My day to day life as a Wiccan.  What does that look like?  Do I wake up, drink black coffee, don a pointy hat and start stirring the cauldron?

No.

I'm all for witch aesthetic, but I don't live in NYC and that shit ain't gonna fly in Newark, yet.

I'm also disabled, so much of my day is spent trying not to be in pain.

So here is a typical day for me, more or less, and how I incorporate my religious beliefs into my daily life.

When I wake up (my three year old wakes me, no need for an alarm), my joints are very stiff, so I spend a few minutes "unstiffening" myself as I like to say.  This entails some leg lifts and stretches all while still lying on my bed.  What I would prefer to be doing is sun salutations, but right now my joints don't move like that.

Next is breakfast.  Depending on what meds I take, I may be ravenous or I may not be hungry at all.  So usually I have brunch around 10:30 or 11 after feeding Ana her first breakfast (she eats again with me), it is always some iteration of eggs.  My parents do my shopping for me and always buy me either organic or cage free eggs.  I either make an omelette with an organic kale spinach mix and tomatoes or a scramble with sausage or bacon and the kale on the side.  I must have tons of garlic in my kale.  Depending on the weather, I either have hot tea or iced coffee.  I drink Trader Joe's Irish breakfast tea, it's dead strong, for coffee I'm a Euro snob and only drink Classic Nescafé.  One day, Shadow will buy me a Nespresso machine.

Being Wiccan, and diseased, I care about what I put in my body.  Most of what I eat is organic.  I also try and stick to a gluten free diet and limit my carbs and sugar, I also don't consume alcohol and haven't for years. The key to sugar intake is, if a banana tastes too sweet when it has no spots, then you have reached optimal sugar detox.  I eat most of my fruit underripe because of this.  I achieved this level of unsweetenedness about 12 or 13 years ago after going to a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner.

After cleaning up, I then clean myself.  This is where more of a ritual comes into play.  I buy many of my products from Lush, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.  My one must have product that I've been using since I was a teenage is a rose water toner I get for ten bucks.  Apparently everyone caught on and it goes quickly at the Whole Foods in Montclair.  Having psoriasis, I tend to purchase products that are all natural and anti inflammatory, so I get a lot of rose stuff.

In the shower, I practice this meditation that I have written about before and I always recommend to people.  It simply works.  Stand under the water and imagine all the negative energy leaving your body as a black sludge and going down the drain.  That's it.  Water cleanses and cleans.

After that I basically do whatever I want or the reality is, whatever I feel up to if I don't need to go somewhere.  Usually I knit and watch shows or movies on Amazon, while Ana plays with her toys.  I prefer British programming, I always have.  Currently I'm watching the Inspector Lewis series. 

Now, knitting is strongly related to my Wiccan beliefs.  Knot Magick can be said over stitches, colors of yarn for various intents, even the intent of the garment can all be chosen with great care and magickal purpose.  I just finished a shawl and my next project is a huge light sage tree of life blanket.  I chose green as a color for prosperity, and the tree of life pattern because of Shadow's affinity for it.  My hope is that one day (still don't know when) it will be the blanket to drape across our couch in our new home when our family is together again.

Besides taking care of my daughter which doesn't involve much really at this age, I don't do much.  I clean up her messes, make the beds, vacuum the carpet and keep the oil diffuser filled with citrus during the day and lavender at night.  I check my new lavender plant (I have a black thumb unlike Shadow) and I make sure my crystals get some sun everyday.

My mom usually cooks dinner since my dad is very particular.  I cook the Greek food, she cooks the Italian, for the most part, but only a few dishes for him, cause again he's a picky freaking toddler.  I seriously miss cooking for Shadow.  We cooked together and we always agreed that we could never have too much garlic.  We switched to Himalayan salt about five years ago, that and lemons are must haves in our kitchen.

Now that I'm writing this, I'm thinking, I don't do a dedication or offering of food when I cook.  During a ritual, yes we do, but everyday, no.  If that's something you would like to do, go for it.  Thank the Gods for your cereal and coffee.  Maybe I need to do this more often.

Now, I want to get one thing straight here, and really I could probably write a whole rant.  You don't need to be vegan to be Wiccan.  I'm a proud and unapologetic meat eater.  In practice, I could cut out land animals and go all fish, but our budget doesn't allow that right now.  We are Greek and eat tons of shrimp, sardines, sword fish, tuna, salmon and squid.  Just last week we had lobster.  Ok, maybe it's in the budget, but that's my dad's budget, not mine.  The bottom line is, to quote Andrew Zimmern: "if it looks good, eat it".

The rest of the evening is spent relaxing.  We FaceTime Shadow (three hour difference from Cali), I do some more knitting or read.  I read every day, and it's not just books on Wicca or witchcraft.  Currently I'm reading Anna Karenina since I didn't get to read it last summer when I got it for book club.  Just because you're Wiccan doesn't mean you're tied down to that subject.  I've seen too many people do this.  Read something you enjoy, the reality is, that once you've read one book on Wicca you've read them all.  People have variations but, it's all the same.

The evening is also when I tend to write.  I jot things down in my journal and make sure important dates are written on my calendar.  I keep everything in one Moleskine notebook.  My calendar, my dreams, my tarot readings, notes, spells, journal entries, and Professor Dumbledore's favorite: knitting patterns.

The last thing I do after putting Ana to sleep is read.  It calms the mind, and I'm also not focused on a screen.

And that's that.

My life right now is pretty mundane, but I don't need to do anything eloborate.  I can do little things all day that are meaningful to me.  Do what is right for you.  You don't need to construct a museum of artifacts around your home and make everything you do reek of Wicca.

Thoughts?  Anger at my steak eating?

Blessed Be!
🌛🌝🌜