Tenae Stewart - The Modern Witchs Guide to Natural Magick: 60 Seasonal Rituals & Recipes for Connecting with Nature

Copyright 2022 by Tenae Stewart

Photography 2022 by Chloe Marissa Wood and Tina Chiotti-Stewart

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by David Ter-Avanesyan

Cover photo by Chloe Marissa Wood

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-6809-3

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-6810-9

Printed in China

CONTENTS

Preface

CELESTIAL ALCHEMY & NATURAL MAGICK

Natural magick might seem like a contradiction of terms at first glance. Isnt magick inherently super natural? In truth, witches and magickal practitioners have worked with the cycles and materia (thats the materials and tools) of nature to bring about their will far back into the depths of time. Magick is not necessarily supernatural at all. In fact, it may be the most natural thing in the world and can be deeply supportive of your overall well-being and self-care.

Why do we spell magick this way? In the spiritual community, magick is spelled with a k to differentiate spiritual, intuitive magick from magic tricks or illusion.

MY OWN JOURNEY WITH NATURAL MAGICK

Ive been a practicing cottage witch for over a decade, and I work with nature in my own spiritual practice in many different ways. I honor the cycles of the seasons and how they alter and shift the natural world around me. I honor the cycles of the moon phases and how they impact my emotions and intuition. I work with plants, flowers, herbs, tea, and essential oils to ground these different energies in my real, daily existence. Nature is an important part of my magickal self-care practice, how I nurture and nourish my physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs.

In fact, I was drawn to witchcraft in the first place because of these very same seasonal cycles and moon phases. Ive always loved the seasons and looked forward to the next one on the horizon. Even as a kid, I loved helping my mom decorate our house for springtime with fresh flowers and bunnies, for autumn with leaves and pumpkins, and for winter with evergreen garlands and sparkling ornaments. Every season also came with its own delicious foods to savor and enjoy: Grandmas deviled eggs and Swiss chard ravioli in springtime, barbecued nectarines in summer, Moms pumpkin chocolate chip cookies at the very first sign of fall, and the longstanding family recipes for gingerbread cookies and spiked eggnog at the holidays. These are all still recipes I make or enjoy with family every year because, for me, the seasons are deeply rooted in the plants, scents, and flavors that are associated with them.

I also loved the moon as a kid, and that was truly my first foray into witchcraft. The full moon rose right outside the window of my childhood bedroom, and I watched it rise every month in awe. Something about that sight sparked a little bit of magick in me. I began actually practicing magick and witchcraft in college, exploring the seasonal and lunar celebrations before eventually falling off the spiritual bandwagon during my last few years there. At the time, I told myself I was too busy to keep up with my practices, that perhaps being a witch had been a phase and it was something I had outgrown. I intentionally put it on a mental shelf as something I had once done.

But in 2015, my life was turned upside down. I lost my childhood home, beloved pets, and everything I owned, including many precious family heirlooms, in a devastating wildfire. For the first six months after the fire, I sort of drifted. I found an apartment, moved to a much more urban area, got a new job, and experienced radical changes in basically every area of my life.

Through a series of coincidences involving a craft store and a cheap palmistry poster, my curiosity about magick was abruptly sparked again. I quickly realized that what I had needed for the past six months of grief and trauma that I had been navigating was a spiritual anchor. I was completely missing my connection to nature, to the earth, to my intuition, and to something greater than myself. I think that I truly started the post-fire healing process the day I brought home that silly palmistry posterwhich still hangs above my altar in honor of that reawakening!

Even in the interim years when I believed I was no longer practicing, I still honored the seasons in so many ways through food, gardening, and a simple awareness of the changes constantly occurring around me in nature. When I recommitted to my spiritual path and reclaimed my inner witch, I started doing those same things with more intention, developing my knowledge around how I could channel the energy of each season with purpose.

THE SEASONS, MOON PHASES & ASTROLOGY

This book is going to delve into what the cycles of the seasons, moon phases, and astrology are and how you can work with them in witchcraft. Specifically, we will be looking at how you can use herbalism and plants to practice natural magick in alignment with the sun and moon for your overall wellness and self-care. The tools of herbalism, including tea and essential oils, are excellent ways to ground the energy of nature in your life in a really tangible and accessible way.

Lets define the basics right now so were speaking the same language: There are, of course, four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. In magick, we can break these seasons down into the eight sabbat festivals and the twelve astrological signs. There are also four moon phases: new, waxing, full, and waning. Each moon phase occurs in a particular astrological sign every month, related to the current season. The movement of the sun and moon through the constellations is all intrinsically interconnected. We experience these cycles as complex, overlapping layers throughout the months and years.

The Wheel of the Year

Many witches celebrate the seasonal sabbats, which are a set of eight pagan holidays inspired by ancient Celtic and European festivals. Collectively, these holidays are referred to as the Wheel of the Year. Each season contains two sabbats: an equinox or solstice, and a fire festival. The equinoxes and solstices are astronomical events that occur when the sun moves into a specific zodiac sign. The fire festivals, also known as cross-quarter days, are the halfway point of each season and occur on specific calendar dates, although some witches celebrate them astrologically or on the nearest full moon instead.