Ever feel like asking life, “Can I have two flipping seconds, please?”
Just when you think you’ve got a minute to pop the kettle on, work shifts that deadline forward, or the boiler needs an unexpected service… leaving little time or money for completing your crystal collection. It can be knackering and expensive being a modern-day witch.
How, then, do you keep your witchcraft practice alive with limited time, energy and resources?
I’ve asked myself this question a lot recently – with a new baby in one arm, and intently crafting Substack posts on my phone with my right thumb at 2 AM. It’s been quite a challenge to keep on top of my herb garden lately, to say the least.
But the Wheel of the Year continues to turn, and it’s up to us whether we hold onto its spokes or not.
Even though my time and energy are limited, I refuse to miss celebrating the seasons, Pagan festivals and the beauty of the world through witchcraft!
So, I’ve put together this list of low-cost, low-energy activities for bringing small sparks of magick and nature into your everyday life. Even better – none of these activities require a phone (let’s go analogue, witchy people). The natural world doesn’t have a toll booth, and neither should witchcraft.
If this post helps you reconnect with your practice, please do share it with someone who’s craving a more peaceful, magickal life.
Enjoy!
15 simple, low-cost green witchcraft activities
Start a nature journal. Be the record keeper the seasons deserve! Grab a notebook or a slimline diary (I use this RSPB one) and take note of the nature you see outside your window each day. It may be just four short lines before bed – noting the first frost, the return of the swallows, and the last hawthorn berry – but by doing so, you are creating a map of the year. Imagine looking back on 10 years of diaries and being able to plot the return of all things green. Incredible.
Bless your compost. Where would a witch’s garden be without compost? Grab a plastic tub/wooden crate and fill it with garden waste and food scraps to make your own compost heap. Hold your hands over the mulch and say “May all life grown from this soil be blessed” before you spread it on your herbs. Cue some super-charged sage!
Learn one local plant at a time… with flashcards! That chunky wildflower guide can look a bit overwhelming. But I find that by picking one plant/tree/herb and making a flashcard out of it, its properties actually stick in my head. On the card, add a plant’s magickal and medicinal properties. So for honeysuckle (below), you might say: “Great for prosperity magick, and for representing love and devotion. Good for lowering fevers.” Challenge yowurself to do one flashcard a month – that’s a heck of a lot of plants you’ll know by the end of the year!
Leave an offering to the earth spirits. First thing in the morning, leave a small offering of bread, milk or fresh flowers on your garden table or window ledge. You could also include plants like lavender that symbolise thanks, to show your gratitude for their helpful presence.
Write down magickal correspondences. North links to the Earth Element, which links to the season of winter and the crystal jasper. In witchcraft, it’s so important to know your correspondences – ie. what works well together magickally. Whichever season you’re in, find out the element, herbs and crystals it corresponds to to elevate your rituals. I’ve already shared the Water correspondences here to get you started! >
Scry with water. Water LOVES to share its knowledge! Sit by a body or bowl of water and ask it a question. Close your eyes, breathe deeply, then look for patterns and pictures in the water’s surface. Take your time. What is it trying to tell you?
Bless your home. Pot up a rosemary plant and put it in next to your front door. This tiny act will protect your home and sweep joy inside.
Write a seasonal poem. You don’t always need a ritual to celebrate the Pagan festivals. Write a poem celebrating your favourite parts of nature right now and recite it out loud to the sky. Your gratitude will be heard.
Grow one thing from a cutting. Free plants, woo! Snip off a healthy stem just below a node, the point where a leaf is attached to the plant. Plant the stem, water and voila. Take the RSPB’s advice here >
Create a seasonal altar using found objects. Nope, no need for mammoth apothecary cabinets here. A small shelf, windowsill or corner table can make the ideal altar space. On your next walk, gather small objects from nature, such as orange leaves, wonky stones, seed pods or a fallen mossy branch, and display them in your home. Change them as the seasons turn. But as I always say here – be responsible and only take what nature is willing to give. Read more about this in “My 5 witchcraft hot takes (as a green witch)” >
Explore local folklore. A friend of mine recently told me about a cat gargoyle on my local church, which was said to scare off the parish witches. Of course, I had to check it out. An instant magickal morning out!
Do your witchcraft admin. Even we whimsical, wily folk need to make notes. Get yourself a paper calendar and write down all this year’s sabbats, full moons, new moons and astrological switch-over days. Sure, an app on your phone is great at reminding you, but the act of writing them out and having a visual reminder on the kitchen fridge will help you remember them better and get excited in the run-up!
Take a mindful walk around your “patch”. I’ve spoken before on The Green Witch about the importance of knowing the one-and-a-half-mile “patch” around your home to understand the earth spirits that dwell there (thank you to the wonderful witch Hannah Sanders for this piece of advice!). This could be your local estate, or that spot by the river where you walk your dog. Take note of the weather, wildlife and spiritual symbolism you notice. That’s some perfect nature journal content right there!
Speak a daily intention into your tea. When you make your morning tea or coffee, take a moment to decide how you’d like to approach the day. Perhaps you want to practise patience, be kinder to yourself or spend more time outdoors. Whisper your intention into your drink in the present tense as if you are already successfully having the day you wish to curate.
Celebrate the seasons with a candle. There’s often a lot of pressure in the witchcraft community to whip out the big guns for every Pagan sabbat. But instead, I find that lighting a small candle and saying meaningful words can have the same effect. Mark the next spoke on the Wheel of the Year by whispering your thanks to the goddess and telling her what the festival means to you. Simple, personal, less of a clear-up afterwards!
Your practice doesn’t need to look like anyone else’s
I’ve spoken a lot on The Green Witch about how witchcraft isn’t an aesthetic. No amount of floaty dresses is going to help you fall into a trance state under the full moon. It’s the simple acts of dedication that make a wholehearted and sincere witchcraft journey.
Read “The real secret to a lasting witchcraft practice” here >
If you’d like to take your practice a little further, I’ll be sharing more about the Pagan Wheel of the Year, nature-based spirituality and the small rituals that help us feel more connected to the world around us here on The Green Witch paid membership. If that sounds like the green and mossy corner of the internet you’d enjoy, I’d love to have you along!
Until next weekend,
Jennifer x
About the author
Jennifer Lane is a green witch and author based in Lancashire, UK. She has written for Vogue, The Guardian and the BBC on the importance of spending time in nature to heal your mental and spiritual health. Her books, The Wheel: A Witch’s Path Back to the Ancient Self, The Witch’s Survival Guide, The Black Air, The Second-Hand Boy, Underwing, and A Guide to Plants for Little Witchlings, are out now.
More like this:
The art of frugal witchcraft >
10 signs you’re craving a slower, more magickal life >
A witch’s glossary: The A-Z of modern witchcraft >
This post is inspired by ’s “Low cost, low energy hobbies that don’t require a phone” (read it here) – she is incredible and brings a lot of joy to my inbox.
Originally published on Substack
