Back when I was a Church of England lay minister I spent a lot of time pondering how to serve God in my daily life. I was in church perhaps one or two hours a week at most. The rest of the time I was a boots on the ground Christian. How could I live by Christ’s example in every moment of my life. I studied, prayed, adopted spiritual practices, gave to do good works, watched my language, sought to be kind and generous.

I figured that if I said I believed in Jesus and what he had to teach then my life ought, at least in some measure, be a witness to that.

Fast forward to some seven years later and I follow a different spiritual path. As a druid, witch and priestess my focus of spiritual practice is different but my question is the same, how do I embody my spiritual path.

I am interested in the path of everyday magic.

Each moment of life is sacred, a gift, I want to honour that and treat daily tasks, washing dishes, cooking a meal, as ways to express my magical practice. When I cook I want to stir in intentions for nourishment and companionship, for wellbeing for those who will eat. When I clean (when I clean!) I want to use this as a way to shift and lighten the energy in my home. There are moments when I can indulge myself with a full cleansing ritual but in the middle of life these can be the exception rather than the rule.

It is harder when it comes to my day job, how can I bring magic into the office environment and business. Perhaps in how I interact with others, in the values I bring to my work, the Reiki principle to “work diligently”? Perhaps in remembering that whatever I put out into the universe may return to me threefold so to keep that snappy response under wraps and breathe?

I am no saint for sure. I get jealous, frustrated, fall into comparison, or wishful thinking…but I want to be a “full time” witch and for me it isn’t an option to run away to a cottage in the dark woods. In my modern mid-life world it means making magic in the everyday, right here and now, with what is to hand.

Witches, so I’m told, do what needs to be done, with what they have, where they are. A smile. A cup of tea and a listening ear. Picking up litter in the street. A card pulled while the kettle boils in the morning…

This is what it is to be a witch in the world.