Witchcraft Practices When You Don't Know What to Manifest

I see these questions a lot:

"How do I practice witchcraft in my day-to-day life?"

"How do I practice witchcraft when there's nothing I need or want?"

"How do I get out of my witchy funk and start practicing again?"

Here are 10 answers to those very questions, so you can stay or get back in touch with your craft!

If you prefer video format, here you go! Otherwise, keep scrolling...

Give Thanks to Spirit

Whether you work with one deity or many, ancestors, or The Universe in general, take a moment to give thanks. You don't (and actually shouldn't) only ever be giving because you hope to receive. In fact, acknowledging that you are not lacking in anything is a gift in itself and worthy of acknowledgement and thanks.

This can be in the form of prayer, a physical offering, act of service/devotion, or opening a dialogue during meditation or ritual.

Mix Intentions into Your Breakfast or Morning Drink

So maybe you don't have a specific, big need to use magick for at the moment. But just because you don't have a first date or a job interview scheduled doesn't mean you couldn't use some extra confidence for the day. Just because you don't have a big exam doesn't mean you can't use a boost in luck. Intentions don't always have to be for a specific purpose. I mean, everyone wakes up hoping to have a generally good day, right?

It doesn't hurt to start your day with a bit of general manifestation. Cook your breakfast with some herbs that correspond to joy and harmony. Drizzle some honey in your tea in the shape of a heart to help you feel and emanate love (doesn't have to be romantic) throughout the day. Squeeze ketchup on your eggs in the shape of a rune or sigil, or just charge your cup of coffee in the morning sun. The possibilities to use magick to start your day off right are endless.

Use Your Sense Memory

I find this to be particularly helpful if I've been feeling detached or in a witchy funk. Use the things that ignite your senses and make you feel, well, witchy. What gets you in the mood for some magick, makes you feel connected, and takes you back to those early rituals you did way back when? What sparks your witchcraft nostalgia?

In the early days of my witchcraft practice, the feeling of my world suddenly being magickal was like that felt by a child walking into Disneyland for the first time. Sometimes I still feel that way, but nowadays, while the magick is still everywhere for me, it's less wow, how exciting! and more well, yeah, this is the norm for me. So at times ,when my magick is feeling a little closer to mundane, I feel disconnected from my practice, or I'm just in a magick lull, I like to bring back the nostalgia of when witchcraft was still new and shiny to me through my senses.

This doesn't just apply to reverting to practices that we did in the beginning, but using anything we've found along the way that create the right atmosphere for ritual--even if you're not going to do a ritual. This could mean longer meditation sessions, dancing, dimming the lights, or playing a specific music. However, the sense of smell is the most closely tied to memory and emotions. It's like how anytime I get a whiff of Victoria Secret's Dream Angels Divine, I'm taken right back to junior high school.

So if there is or was a particular incense that you always burn to set the mood for ritual, light it up! Utilize essential oils, scented candles, hot tea, whatever gets your Pavlovian response going.

Try Something Entirely New

We all know that magick, witchcraft, Paganism, or whatever your flavor of the occult happens to be, are all lifelong studies. So push yourself to keep studying! But I would also recommend you look into a new tradition, path, technique, or practice. Whether it's because you've been wanting to learn something in particular or just to shake things up.

Try a new form of divination, start working on astral projection, explore a completely new system of magick, contact a deity! Whether it becomes a whole new part of your craft or it was just something to dabble in for a bit, allowing yourself room to play can keep the magick juices flowing.

Cleanse & Recharge

Yourself, your space, your items: they all need to be cleansed and recharged from time to time. I consider this to be maintenance magick or a maintenance practice. If you're feeling low-energy, disconnected, or you're just looking for a way to keep your practice active, this is an easy one that needs to be done anyway. Bonus: stagnant, stale, or negative energy could be the cause of any kind of magickal funk you may be experiencing.

Get Yourself Into Nature

Enough said. Go for a hike, swim, bike ride, long walk--hell, sit in your yard for a bit. If you haven't been for a while, just get yourself back into nature and reconnect.

Do a Spell for Someone Else

Maybe there's nothing you currently need or want to manifest for yourself, but what about someone you know? Whether or not you need to ask for permission first is up to your personal beliefs, but either way, a bit of magickal charity can not only keep your practice active, but it can benefit another person and give you those fulfilling warm and fuzzies.

Help Others in the Community

This could be the general witchcraft community, the Pagan community if you identify as Pagan, your coven, your order, or maybe even just your mundane community. Connecting with and helping others, as mentioned in the previous section, can be a type of magick and reward all on its own. But there is also something very satisfying about helping a new witchling or member that can also keep you tapped into your magickal side.

In that same spirit, I started a YouTube channel and blog. You don't have to go that far, but consider hopping on to a forum or one of the various magick-related subreddits and answering the questions of newcomers.

Work on Your Self-Reflection

This is a great time for self-improvement if you're not currently using magick for life-improvement. See a therapist, tend to your shadow work, meditate on yourself, journal, make a self-love jar. If you're taking a break from focusing on the external, turn it around and take some time to work on the internal.

Take an Improv Class

Okay, this is not a joke, and as an actor I am 100% biased, BUT! I recommend this regularly as life advice to pretty much everyone who has ever asked me for advice. Taking an improv class (yes, as in improvisational theater) can teach you lessons in opening yourself up, allowing yourself to be vulnerable, listening to others, pushing your boundaries, strengthening your focus, getting in touch with your mind-body connection, harnessing human connection, improving your communication skills, and most importantly, living in the moment.

Depending on where you live, you can probably sign up for an improv class through your community center, a community theater, or a community college. They aren't too expensive and they're typically introductory acting classes so a lot of people there will have little or no experience (i.e. no need to be embarrassed if you've never performed before because neither have 99% of the rest of your classmates).

If that's not something you can manage, I strongly suggest you go out and do something that makes you uncomfortable and pushes your boundaries a little. You don't have to break them or put yourself in danger, but I encourage you to test yourself and expand yourself.

If you've been feeling a little lost lately, I hope these suggestions have helped you find your way. If there's a particular practice you maintain that helps you stay active or get out of a witchy funk, tell me about it in the comments below.