Designing your own spirituality is one of the great allures of witchcraft, but not a lot has been written (at least not that I can find) about how exactly to do so. How do you know what you want to do in your witchcraft practice? What is important to you and not just a passing fancy? Where do you want to go next?

I have designed, kind of on a whim, a writing exercise for figuring out where you want to go with your witchcraft, and I wanted to share it with you in case you were feeling as frazzled and directionless as I was.

The Exercise

This exercise is appropriate for people at all “levels,” whether they are beginners, intermediate, or advanced practitioners. Afterwards, you will have a document that will guide you in making large decisions (like whether to join an initiatory lineage or dedicate to a deity) and small ones (like what witchcraft-related things to do each day).

You can free-write this by hand, use a word processor on the computer, or even write in your notes app on your phone. (That’s what I did!)

Your prompt is “I want…” (Yes, this is vague on purpose.) Each new paragraph can be a different topic, but I recommend making them all begin with “I want…” Get as detailed within each paragraph as feels right.

Some further prompts, if you need help getting specific:

• What you want to do in your regular witchcraft practice
• What you want to do once, or less frequently
• What you want to learn about (and how)
• What you want to feel (and why)
• What you DON’T want (This one is very fruitful for me!)
• What you want to focus on (and how)
• What you want to celebrate (and how)

Remember, you don’t have to have all the answers when you start writing– the point of this is discovery, even if you end up rehashing some stuff you already know.

Mine ended up being about four pages long, but afterwards I had a much clearer idea of what belonged in my witchcraft practice and what didn’t. For example, I learned that I had been placing a heavy emphasis on divination when in reality, that should be supplemental.

After the Exercise

After I finished this exercise, I let it sit for a few days, reread it, decided it was good, and copied it into my witch journal. Now, I use it to guide my decisions– rather than doing tarot/oracle draws once a day or more, I try to do it every few days, because I don’t truly want it to be the bulk of my practice. However, I do want to work with crystals, so I choose one to carry for the day, as often as I remember.

Keep in mind that you can do this exercise as often as you like, though I don’t recommend doing it TOO often (whatever that means). You could set a regular schedule for it (every year on Samhain or New Year’s Day) or just do it whenever you feel your practice has changed significantly.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!