We all get in a spiritual rut from time to time, but even if you understand that, it’s still hard once you’re in the middle of it. I find I struggle with impostor syndrome to the max – like “are you even a real witch if you don’t cook a huge feast for every Sabbat and go for long nature walks every day and get personal daily texts from the moon about what phases she’s in?” (The answer is of course! None of these things are what make you a witch. And the moon is very selective about who has her phone number, I’ve heard.)

Although it’s totally normal to go through times where we aren’t as active in our spiritual practice, it can be frustrating if you miss that part of yourself and just feel like nothing can get that spark back.

This has happened to me so many times over the past few years of really diving deep into my spirituality, so trust me, I’ve been there! Today I thought I’d share five different things I like to do to re-energize my spiritual practice when things feel a little stale.

1. revisit your book of shadows

This is something I do all. the. time. because I’m indecisive and a perfectionist and can’t decide what I want my Book of Shadows/grimoire to look like or what purpose I want it to serve, but sometimes the idea of starting over and documenting my spiritual journey afresh can breathe new life into what I’ve been doing.

Flip through the book of shadows, grimoire, or other spiritual journals you’ve been keeping so far. How do they make you feel? How can you do them better? Maybe you don’t need to scrap what you already have, but just need to spend some time updating them to suit your current practice. Maybe you’ll find you want to keep an additional journal to fill a gap in your practice. Or maybe just looking at the progress you’ve made so far is enough to get you excited about your craft again!

I’m currently in the process of re-doing my BoS because I felt confined by the fact that I couldn’t move my pages around – they’re in a sketchbook right now. So instead, I’m moving to a postbound scrapbook. That way I can take out and change pages as my practice changes! I also wanted my BoS to be more like an evergreen resource than a journal of my personal practice, so I started an art journal for my reflections on spirituality and the Sabbats and that’s been working well so far! But working on those things got me really excited to spend time with my practice again.

2. look to others for inspiration

One of the major reasons I kept getting stuck early on in my practice was that… I didn’t really know what a spiritual practice looked like. Do I meditate every day? How often should I do moon rituals?? What do I do with this giant bundle of fresh lavender??? WHY WON’T THE SAGE STAY LIT?!?!?

Even if you’ve been secure in your spirituality for a while, sometimes looking at how other people practice can help give you ideas of what might be missing from your own craft.

For example, reading about The Snow Orchid Witch’s magickal morning routine really inspired me to take a look at MY morning routine and make some changes depending on how I wanted to feel! I might never have thought anything was wrong with my system until I saw one that was more in line with what I want my mornings to look like. Reading blogs, watching witchy YouTube videos, and scrolling Tumblr are all great places to find some witchspiration.

3. read a good book

I don’t know about you, but reading a good spiritual book always gets me back in the mood to do some witchery. Sometimes you just need to have your horizons broadened a little and explore some new concepts to get a better idea of where you want to go in your practice.

I’ve never worked with deities in my practice, but recently I’ve been reading more about the Norse pantheon. Even though I’m not ready to work with any deities, I feel like learning more about them helped me expand my worldview a little more and inspired me to rethink my current practice and where I might like to go with it in the future.

I have a whole list of books I recommend in my Resource Library, which you can get access to simply by subscribing to my mailing list! The password is in the introductory email and towards the bottom of my regular newsletters. (If you forgot the password, just shoot me an email and I can refresh your memory 🙂 )

4. learn a new skill

This one is my favorite! If your craft feels a little stale as it is, why not try learning something new? This could be pressing flowers to use in your grimoire, trying out a new system of divination like runes or scrying, diving into the world of crystal healing, or incorporating essential oils into your practice for the first time (heyyyy, I can help with that ;D)

Really anything can be witchcraft if you do it with intention, so this isn’t limited to “magickal” practices. Try things like planting and tending an herb garden, learning to identify local plants, volunteering outdoors, or getting in touch with the “old ways” by canning and preserving seasonal fruits and veggies.

5. make a list

What do you want your spiritual practice to look like? Sometimes all it takes is making a list of the things you want to be doing, and then doing them! Do you really want to make daily tarot a part of your life? Big Sabbat celebrations? Regular meditation? Write it down!

Once you have a list of all the things you’d like to be doing, use it to make a plan. Maybe you know you won’t have time to draw a tarot card every morning before work, but you can squeeze it in at night before bed and use it to reflect on your day instead. Maybe you don’t need to journal EVERY day, but you can designate an hour every Sunday as your journaling time. Find a way to work these things into your schedule (and don’t feel pressured to do everything. No one can do everything!)

 

Above all, don’t beat yourself up if you’re feeling stuck or unmotivated in your spiritual practice. I feel like there’s this weird pressure from social media to be doing witchy stuff ALL the time when in reality, your spirituality should serve YOUR needs. There are days I don’t do a single witchy thing and other days I do the most, you know? If you’re not feeling a huge need to do moon rituals or read tarot every day at this point in your life, that’s fine! Everything happens in cycles and we’ll never be able to give 100% all the time.

Have you ever been in a rut with your spiritual practice? How did you get out of it? Let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear all about it! <3