Witchcraft Therapy
YOUR GUIDE TO BANISHING BULLSH*T AND INVOKING YOUR INNER POWER
Mandi Em
Adams Media
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Copyright 2021 by Amanda MacLean.
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First Adams Media hardcover edition May 2021
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The information in this book should not be used for diagnosing or treating any health problem. Not all diet and exercise plans suit everyone. You should always consult a trained medical professional before starting a diet, taking any form of medication, or embarking on any fitness or weight training program. The author and publisher disclaim any liability arising directly or indirectly from the use of this book.
DEDICATION
To David,
who builds me ladders
when my dreams
feel out of reach.
INTRODUCTION
Stuck in a situation thats draining your happiness? Struggling with anxious thoughts that talk you out of going after what you want? Wishing you could conjure real, lasting confidence in yourself and your abilities?
Well, guess what: You can unstick yourself. You can claim what you deserve, and you can realize just how much you have to offerwith a little help from the mystical forces of intention, divination, and mindful manifestation. At its core, practicing magic is a formidable source of empowerment: It is a path to own your shit and use all of the resources available to you to create the reality you want. The cornerstones of witchcraft arent Mason jars and splattered bits of wax: They are personal growth, healing, and a respectful reverence for the natural world and your unique place within it.
And Witchcraft Therapy is here to serve as your guide, helping you navigate the constant twists and turns that life churns out, by using witchcraft as a tool for not just staying afloat, but also for dominating whatever comes your way. This book takes the problematic things that life tosses up and gives you magical solutions for taking your power back. Youll find fifty activities to work through common challenges, organized under the chapter themes of mindset, confidence, calm, mental health, relationships, and success and motivation. Each entry explores a problem in more detail, explains just how fucking magical you are when it comes to overcoming it, and prescribes a spell, ritual, or other exercise to heal your troubles. As a science-seeking witch, Ive been skeptical myself of certain parts of the craft (looking at you, manifestation), and thats why this book approaches concepts and magical workings in a practical, analytical way.
Just be warned: This isnt a journey through warm fuzzies and empty live, laugh, love inspirations. The mark of a truly powerful spellcaster is the ability to recognize how much agency you have over your own life. Youre about to dig deep, root around in the shadows, and banish the bullshit that doesnt deserve the space its keeping in your head and your heart. Are you ready to connect with the badass witch inside of you?
MAGICAL BASICS
So you want to invoke your inner witch and manifest the life you truly desire. But first, some ground rules. And by rules, Im not talking about any rigid do this or else you arent a true witch bullshit: These are simply things to keep in mind when using witchcraft as a means to better yourself and your experiences. Although the beauty of witchcraft as a practice is the flexibility and freedom to reclaim personal power in your own life, there are certain fundamentals when it comes to practicing magic that are important to be aware of to harvest the best results. The following sections outline these magical basics, including key takeaways and techniques, in more detail.
Magic and the Mundane
If theres any one piece of wisdom that you gain from this book, especially in the context of wellness witchery, let it be this: You wont get fuck-all if you dont do the work.
Too many folks come into witchcraft believing what theyve seen on TV, and it shows. They think they can just recite an incantation, sit back, and watch their desires materialize out of thin air. The reality is magic alone isnt going to sweep in and do all the dirty work for you. Yes, there are countless stories of people (myself included) manifesting amazing things and seeing even the most basic spells summon powerful results, but those practices are never done in isolation. Using magic not as a quick fix but as an amplifier to real-world action is the mark of the truly powerful witch.
Think of it this way: You can perform spells to find employment until youre blue in the face, but your chances of actually getting hired explode exponentially if youre also out there pounding pavement, handing out resumes like its your job. This works in the healing sense as well. You can do rituals and spells for your own peace of mind over things you cant control, but at the end of the day if you arent also watching where your energy and mental efforts are going, youre less likely to push through to a better place.
If you want to use magic to make shit happen, then hell yeah, lets go! However, be careful not to underestimate the magic of the mundane for getting the most powerful results. In putting in the work, youre programming your brain to see the value of your own actions when it comes to grabbing this beautiful, chaotic life by the balls.
Essential Techniques
Although witch is more an archetype than a formalized role, there are some essential techniques that feature prominently in most witches practices. The following is a quick reference guide to these techniques. Each chapter of this book contains one or some combination of these techniques.
Energy Work
Energy work involves developing a sense of the energies swirling all around and within you and training yourself to recognize shifts in these energies. This is especially important to witchcraft, as witches raise energy to put toward spell and ritual work. Many witches also hold the belief that the energy of one thing or being can become attached to other objects, places, or people, potentially causing interference with mental states or magical workings. Energy work can get a bad rap for being kind of out there, but as anyone whos dealt with a sketchy situation or been in the same room with an upset person will attest, energies can most definitely be felt.