Often when we talk about a 'magical home' we have this picture in our head, of a big gothic mansion, with herbs and potion bottles scattered about, a cat or two roaming the halls and candles enough to be a fire hazard. But there are many ways to make your home more magical, and ideally your home should reflect not only the aesthetic of everyone who lives there, but also be functional as well.
I adore a lot of witchy aesthetics, but many of them simply don't work for my life. Candles are a perfect example. I adore them, have loved them since I was a child. But I am all over the house, and there is never really a good time or place to just have candles burning (especially because we have kitties who have zero sense of fire safety lol). When I do burn candles, I feel like I have to carry them everywhere with me (including the bathroom...which can be tricky), and even when I use big pillar candles (with the fire sunk deep down) or jar candles (which are similarly protected) I am very mindful of remembering to put them out (which means part of my brain is constantly aware of the candles...not relaxing nor is it good for working on projects).
I still use candles, and candles are not only a part of my witchy practice, but also sometimes tools I use (especially scented candles) for writing (ritualize everything!) but they really can't be part of my home aesthetic (at least not lit ones...I have candles sprinkled throughout the house) Also, with my eyesight, I need decent (white) light sources or it increases my eye strain, so while I can watch tv or just chill in a candlelit room, I can't read or do anything that requires reading well.
Of course aesthetics isn't the only way to add magic to your home. A very common way is to add altar spaces, which may be in one room or multiple rooms, they may be working altars or devotional, and they might be obvious or camouflaged. Camouflaged altars might just look like a collection or even just a decorative space. The top of my desk is an altar, but I bet to most people it just looks like I collect a bunch of stuff.
This is something that I adore about personalized witchcraft...my sacred objects might not look like what you expect. I have sacred dice, sacred coins, sacred cards (like trading cards), sacred toys...alongside the more traditional statuary, crystals and tools. But having that flexibility to have dice dedicated to my deities allows me to fold magic into other aspects of my life, places that might not traditionally be associated.
We can also add blessings, wards and other workings around our house! One of my favorite ways to do this is to tuck them behind, under or inside other things. Draw or write out a blessing for every picture you hang in your house (especially for people, but you can bless things that other pictures remind you of as well). Inscribe wards on the edges of doors (you can tuck them on the top of doors where no one can see, or even by the hinges, so that the two parts of the symbol meet when the door is closed). I have tucked working papers in between the mattress and box springs of my bed, in the back of the laundry cupboard and in books (bonus points for matching the working to the book).
And some things are a mix of form and function. I love picking out furniture, and making choices based on the correspondences of the item. Browns remind me of nature and the earth, blues are restful to the mind, yellow is buzzed up on energy. I pick things for the energy I want for everything I can, from clothes to my toothbrush to the jewelry I wear.
Speaking of making things work, take some time to think about the tools of your craft...what items do you need to have at hand to practice your path. When I was first starting, I was at home and not 'out', so I kept all my magical stuff in one place (a wooden box meant to hold a chess set, and then after that a toolbox). Not only did this keep my stuff safe from prying eyes, but it also made it easy to grab my 'magic kit' anytime I wanted to do anything...and pretty much I'd have what I needed.
Now, I have the luxury of being able to keep a lot of things out in the open, which is really helpful for my brain. Especially when it comes to things (like tarot/oracle decks) where I have quite a few and would typically only use one at a time. But I know that tucking them away in a drawer would mean I would forget (I'm very much out of sight, out of mind), so I found ways to have them out, so I can see them all when I am searching for a deck. It's massively helpful for me!
And if you can't keep things fully out, there are ways to handle that too! I used to keep all my obviously witchy books in one small bookshelf, that has glass doors on the front. Simple solution: I taped some pictures on the inside of the glass, so the doors looked decorative (and of course they were fantasy/witchy/magical pictures!) but they also hid the books inside. Another great thing to use for this is tension rods and curtains. (and bonus, tension rods are great for displaying jewelry so it's visible!)
Finally, you can consider your regular activities (you know, the stuff you do in your home), and how you might twine your path with them. Cleaning is the obvious one for me, and I try to cleanse whenever I clean (in fact, I keep bells tied to my broom to help me remember). Laundry could be a time to release any old emotions/energy (before the wash) and bless your clothes for the future (folding/putting it away). Showering is a good time to do an energetic scan of your body. And of course, we have cooking, which is pretty much magic already.
There are a million ways to make your home more magical, and I hope I gave you some ideas for a few. But don't limit yourself to what I have mentioned, look for stuff that makes YOU think of magic, your path, your deities, your guides or any other part of your personal practice, and then think of how you could infuse those concepts in your home. Don't be afraid to try things out and see if you like them...and "I just like it" is always a perfect response to anyone asking "Why do you have/do that?"
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