Hannah Hawthorn - The Magick of Birthdays: Rituals, Spells, and Recipes for Honoring Your Solar Return

If I think back far enough, I can remember my fifth birthday. I was sitting on an oversized wooden chair in my grandparents dining room, my legs far too short to touch the floor. On the table in front of me was a cake topped with five small lit candles. My eyes were entranced with their flames, watching as the wax rolled down onto the frosting. Cheerfully surrounding me, my family was singing along to the tune of Happy Birthday. As the song came to a close, they encouraged me to blow out the candles and make a wish. Being in kindergarten at the time, Im positive I said something along the lines of Art supplies! or New shoes! I dont quite remember if these came to fruition, but I do remember that moment felt magical... and it was. Unbeknownst to me, I had just cast my first spell.

I would remain a stranger to witchcraft and ritual for many years after this experience. Like most of you reading, Im sure, these were tales of fantasy and words reserved for the fiction found in the pages of Harry Potter. However, in the time between then and now, I have experienced many enchanting moments that led me to become the witch I am today. It would probably surprise you really, the number of things that are inadvertently witchy. Collecting pennies and clovers for luck. Wishing on dandelions, eyelashes, and shooting stars. Not opening umbrellas inside, walking under ladders, or splitting the pole. Breaking wishbones and kissing under the mistletoe. Much like we wish on birthday candles, these events go unnoticed, but there were many times in my Muggle life that I experienced real magic. This is because magic is constantly surrounding every one of us, weaved into the seemingly mundane aspects of our everyday life. Becoming aware of these things and seeking them out on purpose is what makes us witches.

When I discovered that wishing on birthday candles was spellwork, it lit a fire under me and changed my life trajectory completely. I thought to myself, If this one small action is magic, what else is the universe hiding? This sent me on a lifelong path of discovering everything I could about living a more magical life, which ultimately brought me here and is the reason this book came to be in your possession. My journey into witchcraft has felt a lot like falling down a rabbit hole. You start searching for answers about something as simple as birthday candles, and where you end up is entirely different. You could say that it was birthdays that truly bewitched me with their wonderfully enchanting yet confusing rituals. We give gifts, sing songs, spank each other, and light cakes on fire. Have you ever considered how truly peculiar they are? (If youre not from a place where birthday spankings exist, you are probably very confused at this moment, but just consider yourself lucky.) These strange modern-day traditions didnt come to exist by accident. They are the result of thousands of years of accumulated magic.

This book may be called The Magick of Birthdays, but you will find far more than that here. This is a practical guide to become your own holiday and harness your personal power. Although you only have one birthday, in these pages, you will find the tools to work with that energy all year long and add an entirely new dimension to your practice. The information in this book is written from an astrological and magical perspective. We will unravel how birthdays came to be and use that as a foundation to celebrate in a way that is meaningful to us today. We will take those birthday candles and perform powerful candle magic. You will learn the basics of traditional astrology and how to read your natal chart as a tool for guidance. Youll learn planetary timing so you can live your life in sync with the celestial bodies. Youll utilize your solar return and work with the Sun and solar deities. Youll find spells and rituals, correspondence lists, and even magical birthday cake recipes.

This book was written for all experience levels and all types of magical practices. No prior knowledge is needed for you to understand anything well cover. I wrote this book for anyone with a birthday. The concepts are intended to be presented so both the beginner and experienced practitioner will see them in a new light. Take this information and integrate it into your practice in the way that feels most natural to you. As witches, we often follow the earths cycles and seasons, yet we ignore our own. Birthdays are a powerful tool, and I hope they create a space for you to pull and draw inspiration from. You can think of this book as a means to add depth to your craft or pioneer your magical journey. I dont intend for you to read this once and then set it on a shelf for eternity. This is a reference book to return to. Write in it. Dog-ear the pages. They are yours.