​Coffee is one of those things that so many of us drink and don't give a second thought to. But like anything, if we put intentions behind it, it becomes magical. 

Even without intentions and incantations, coffee is pretty magical, especially on those days when you just can't get started or focused. Then you pour or purchase yourself a cup and let the steamy brew work its magic as it wakes up your mind and body. 

As busy witches, I realize it's much easier to grab a morning Starbucks on the way to work, but for coffee magick to be more personal and powerful, it's worth preparing your own. 

But either way, you can use a cup of brewed coffee, and even coffee beans and grounds, to stir up some daily magic. The best part is, these magical workings don't take a lot of time, which is great for us lazy...I mean busy witches. :P
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There are so many magical herbs, spices, and flavors you can sprinkle over or pour into your coffee to boost its benefits. Remember to infuse your coffee with these ingredients in a mindful way. 

FYI: Stir clockwise to bring in positive things and stir counter-clockwise to ward of negativity.

Cinnamon: This ancient spice is an all around amazing magical booster. Sprinkle into your coffee to attract love, strengthen personal and spiritual power, bring success and abundance, and provide protection and healing.

Sugar: Stir in for sweetness and love.

Ginger: Provides inner strength and acts as an energy booster.

Nutmeg: Enhances/attracts psychic visions and attracts money and luck.

Vanilla: As classic and sweet as sugar, vanilla is the rose quartz of the spice world. It calls in love and sweetness for your life and yourself and helps one give and receive love.

Almond: Stir in almond milk to boost your luck and call in prosperity and wisdom.

Milk: Cow's milk provides an abundance of personal and spiritual nourishment, as well as prosperity.

Coconut: As a food of the gods, coconut milk and/or shavings can add increased confidence, psychic awareness, spiritual power, and protection to your day.

Cardamom: A little goes a long way with this sultry spice. Use it to increase your charm, attract love and lust, and induce passion.    

Hazelnut: Nourishes creativity, intuition, and mental powers. 
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☕ Use espresso beans for speed and concentration.

☕ Use a cold press brewing process to slow things down.

☕ Use drip coffee to push past obstacles.

☕ Pour a dark blend coffee into a black mug, light a candle, and look into the liquid. Let your focus soften. Do you see anything? Journal about what comes to you in this scrying session.

☕ Sprinkle fresh coffee grounds on your altar to add focus and help move spells/intentions along.

☕ Place coffee beans wherever you keep your tarot cards to cleanse them of negativity and add positive energy for your next reading.
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Incorporate this simple coffee spell into your morning ritual. It's quick, easy, and is a positive way to start your day.

Stirring in All Good Things

As you stir your coffee in a clockwise direction, envision something good happening to you by the end of the day or think of a few qualities you'd like to infuse your day with. Maybe you'd like happiness, laughter, and love or creativity and passion. Continue stirring as you envision these things and think or say out loud, "These things I draw to me as I drink this cup of magic coffee." You may wish to blow your breath (filled with those intentions) into the coffee cup before sipping. 

Rainbow Light Spell 

This coffee enchantment is adopted from Llewellyn's Spell a Day. 

Cup your hands around your cup of coffee and envision it glowing with rainbow colors: first red, then orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, and white. When you're ready, put your nose to the cup and inhale deeply, letting all the light fill your body. Then think or say, "May this libation fill my body, my mind, and my spirit. May I be awake, aware, and blessed this day (or use your own words if you'd like to call in different things). Amen, a'ho, and so it is."

Happy sipping!

​'- you know, I've either had a family, a job, something
has always been in the
way
but now
I've sold my house, I've found this
place, a large studio, you should see the space and
the light.
for the first time in my life I'm going to have a place and
the time to
create.'
no baby, if you're going to create
you're going to create whether you work
16 hours a day in a coal mine
or
you're going to create in a small room with 3 children
while you're on
welfare,
you're going to create with part of your mind and your
body blown
away,
you're going to create blind
crippled
demented,
you're going to create with a cat crawling up your
back while
the whole city trembles in earthquakes, bombardment,
flood and fire.
baby, air and light and time and space
have nothing to do with it
and don't create anything
except maybe a longer life to find
new excuses
for. 

Charles Bukowski

I've been struggling for a long time, lost in the woods, walking around in circles like a damn fool. 

What's going on? Why am I here? Where am I going? Maybe if I just walk around this tree for awhile things will get better and I'll know what I'm doing and everything will be clear. 

So how's that workin' out?
​

When I resigned from my full-time HR job in 2012, I had grand visions. The hubs and I planned on selling most of our stuff, moving to the Philippines, and I would finally get to live my dream of writing by the ocean.

Yep, I'd finally have the time and space to write a novel. All the time I could ever want without worrying about finances. My handful of freelance jobs and my husband's small pension was enough to live comfortably in the Philippines.

In fact, in the beginning, we lived right on the ocean. It was a very minimalist apartment and I didn't have all the Western comforts, but we were right on the ocean! And I learned a new way of living. One where I hung clothes outside to dry, one where I didn't have an oven or microwave, one where I didn't have the option to grab a coffee from Starbucks or browse through Victoria's Secret.

So there I was, ready to start the next chapter of my life as a novelist by the sea.

But what did I do instead?

I sat in front of the computer inside the house and looked for more work.

I'm still writing, I'd tell myself. It's for other people, but still. 

"Why don't you use this opportunity to focus on your writing?" my husband would ask.

"Because I need to make money."

"But you don't need to make that much."

"I do if I want to buy things."

Maybe that's not exactly the conversation, but you get the point.

In six years I've maybe gone to the beach 20 times. For six years I've put writing my own stuff in a corner and said, "I'll get to you later." And yes, I've worked on it here and there, but there's never been any focus, and it's certainly never a priority.

Even though I think about it all the time. 

I remember sitting in my office at work, staring into space, thinking, Wouldn't it be wonderful to just let it all go and not have to live by this stupid template society has placed on me? If only I didn't have to make so much money just to get by. If only I could live by my rules. If only I could wake up when I wanted to and not have to go to a job that doesn't fulfill me. If only.....then I could make big things happen. Then I could write a novel. Then I could inspire people to ditch the old template. 

All of those "if only's" came true and yet...

Although I'm happier working for myself and grateful that I can call myself a working writer, I'm still tethered to a desk. I've done nothing to further my dreams of becoming an author. 

Not too long ago, my husband asked me, "What is your life plan? What is your vision for the future?"

I said things like write a book and open a witchy shop and teach dance.

And then he said, "No, those are just points on a map, but how do you get to them? What is your plan? Go deeper. Get more detailed."

"I don't know," I replied. "I think those goals are good enough."

"So you're okay with whatever happens?" Basically...

And that is exactly how I've felt for a long time. Everywhere and nowhere. 

This whole time I've just been so afraid to let go of the desire to earn more, buy more. I ask myself, but what if I really want something and I don't have enough money to buy it? 

I am so fearful of not having enough, even if it's just crap stuff. But I look around and I see that I have more than enough. I have shelves full of crystals and books and candles and nick knacks. I have enough shoes and clothes. I have a computer full of games and a PS4 and purchased workshops that I never finished. 

But you know what I don't have? 

A finished novel.
A sense of accomplishment.
A road map to my dreams.
Adventurous experiences.

And it's sad because the universe handed me an ideal opportunity and all I've done is waste it for six years. SIX YEARS!

Here's what I want to work towards:

mindfulness
simplicity
gratitude
intentional living
creation, not consumption
cultivating and strengthening meaningful relationships
silence

I'm sorry if all this reads like a chaotic ramble, but I felt drawn to just get it out. 
​

If you have something you've been putting off because of a bunch of "if only's" just know that they are excuses. Even if you're granted time and space and money and everything your heart desires, nothing will change on the outside if you don't change what's going on on the inside.

The old wounds and thought patterns and fear will still be with you, no matter where you go.

So let's start right here, right now, exactly where we are. Let's write a new chapter. Let's get the help and support we need. Let's let go. Let's prioritize what's really important.

Because, honey, what is it that you'll care about in the end?

For me, will it be freelancing or calling myself an author? $3000 in the bank every month or being able to say, "This is my book,"? A lifetime of experiences or a lifetime of stuff? 

This is not to say people can't have both - plenty of people do. But for me, it's about focus. It's about letting go of auto pilot and living with intention. It's about being true to myself and my dreams. It's about not going to the grave with a song still in my heart.

​When did blogs become all about information? Remember when they were more personal and beautiful and filled with a person's insights?

One blog I particularly remember (although, unfortunately I can't think of the name of the blog) was this pretty conglomeration of the blogger's dreamy photographs (twinkle lights and books and teacups) and snippets from fairy tale stories.

It was so inspiring.

And who doesn't miss Livejournal? I met so many creative people on there, and it was a beautiful space for me to write poems and prose and everyday nonsense. 

Of course, I can do that here on The Sacred Middle, but it's counter to what all the professionals say. They say no one will read your blog if it's not informational. Hmm...I suspect that's not completely true. 

Are there any personal blogs you read and enjoy? 
​

  
If I spent as much time practicing my writing as I do ballet, I would be much further ahead on my novel. At the very least I'd be a stronger writer.

I started dancing at one of the local universities in December and made it my goal to improve my flexibility and strength. Little by little I've become more flexible (got my splits back!) and my leg extensions are improving slowly but surely.

It just takes a little bit of effort and a few hours a week.

So why can't I dedicate even one hour a day to typing out some paragraphs (even if they're garbage) for the novel? And it doesn't even have to be novel work. A poem, scribbled notes, a blog post, anything!
​

                                        
I've had my eyes on a sacred geometry stone set for nearly a year - maybe a year - and finally got one for Christmas. Each stone is a different shape and corresponds to a chakra through color.

I've been drawn to the shapes for quite some time, especially the merkaba, and don't exactly know why. They just floated in my mind for a long time, and now that I have them, they feel like old friends.

That's strange, isn't it? But stones do ​have energy and vibration, right? So it makes sense that they resonate with me on that level.