Today I wanted to talk about the main facet of witchcraft that permeates my day to day life. I would love to have the time and energy to do rituals every day, maybe do a spell now and then but the truth is that I usually don’t do those things. The main piece of witchcraft that extends into every part of my life, every day, is the power of intention.

For those of you who may not have read my other article on witchcraft, this is the piece that my boyfriend lovingly refers to as “positive thinking with extra steps”. The idea behind the power of intention and witchcraft in general is to manifest what you want in your life through the power of intention and positive steps in that direction. Witchcraft in general is the idea that you are a powerful being that can create the outcomes you want from the power that lives inside of you by syncing that power with the energy of the universe.

It sounds complicated, but honestly it’s easier than you would think. The universe is made up of many things, living and nonliving that each carry their own intentions and vibrations, being mindful of that and becoming aware of your own place in the universe is the first step to syncing your power with that of the universe. Being a witch is not about ultimate power and its not about big flashy spells used to pull money from thin air. Think about it like this; if you need more money in your life you wouldn’t just think to yourself, “wow I need more money” and then continue to sit doing nothing.

A metaphor that I really like is that the universe is like a river and a lot of us are standing on the river bank wanting to go downstream. We could take the long way and climb over rocks and trees to get down the bank to the place we wanted to go, or we could wade into the river and let the current carry us downstream. A smart person might build a raft or hold on to a log so they can keep themselves above water while they travel. Stepping into the river is realizing that you are part of the ecosystem, but building a raft and steering yourself in the direction you want to go, while letting the river do the heavy lifting is syncing your energy with that of the universe and using your own personal power to direct yourself where you want to be.

Of course there will be times where it will be safer on the river bank; the universe isn’t inherently good or evil, it’s just raw energy and sometimes that energy can turn into turbulence. At that point you have the choice of pulling your raft to the side and traveling on foot for a while, or just weathering the rapids and letting it push you forward more quickly than you could imagine. Either option is fine, rapids are frightening, especially if you are just a person on a raft. But it really just depends on where you want to be and how efficiently you want to get there.

Now, at this point it seems like the river may just take you wherever it deems and you have no control, but that is not the case either. This is where the power of intention comes in. Earlier, I mentioned that all the energy in the universe is made up of the intentions and vibrations of every living thing. Your intentions do matter. A lot of us don’t realize the power that we individually have to make choices. Regardless of social constructs and expectations, the reality is that we all have the choice to quite literally do anything we want. You could sell everything you own and move to Thailand tomorrow; it may not be a fiscally responsible move, or what you want, but that is a choice that you have.

We are all shuffling, one after another down the side of the riverbank to a series of predetermined destinations. The river is right there next to us, but for whatever reason, most of us don’t step in. We’ve seen people get torn apart by the rapids, we’ve seen the alligators and carnivorous fish that live in the water, and we are afraid. We are partly scared because we don’t want to end up like those people, but we are also partly afraid because we don’t want to be the only people running into the river. What if we fail? What if we get halfway down stream and then realize its not what we wanted? What if the river moves us more slowly than walking on land? We as humans naturally want to be praised and accepted, and we are afraid more than anything, more than any failure, any misstep, or anything like that, we are afraid of judgement from the other people in our society.

I think more people than are willing to admit want something different for their lives, we hear a lot of the time, “I just want to travel”, “I hate living here but I’ve never lived anywhere else”, and other things like that but they don’t do anything about it. And I could sit here and say “it’s easy, just do it!” but that is really not the case. It’s hard. It’s really hard. And honestly the hardest part about it is having the self confidence to try. Getting over that bump of feeling like you’re not special enough to do what you want to do is the hardest, most arduous part and it’s not something that happens overnight. I am actively pursuing writing, every day and I still don’t feel like I’m worth it most of the time. I don’t know if that feeling will ever 100% go away, but getting over that first wall and starting to move down the river is the first step to getting what you want. Because the truth is, nobody is special, and in that sense we are all special.

So when I light a candle and meditate for an hour, or perform a money spell, or a banishing spell under the darkness of the new moon; I recognize that these things are just tools. These are things that I can do to calm the waters around me, help steer me in the direction I want to go, and keep the things that would hurt me away all while I’m swimming with all my might and watching the people on land judge me for being in the water.

Witchcraft is not about the tools that you use, it’s about the bravery and honest to god leap of faith that you take believing that you can do it. I think I was in the river for a very long time before I discovered witchcraft in its entirety. But then somewhere along the way I got scared, I noticed the stares and the demons in the water and I climbed onto shore for something stable and safe. And again, there’s nothing wrong with that. But I’m not the kind of person who has ever been satisfied with a traditional lifestyle. I want to create art, travel the world, experience everything that I can, and create lasting bonds with the people I meet along the way. I don’t think that I would ever be satisfied with a typical 9-5 as much as I want to be.

Again, I know for a fact that there will be people who read this who say, “I’m not satisfied with that either, but you do what you have to do. What makes you so special that you think you can avoid doing the things the rest of us have to do?” And that’s just it, not a damn thing. I am not “so special”, I am just a person who has let up on doubting herself just enough to access the power that we all have inside of us and try.