I went through a major declutter this month. After two major, and devastating, moves in the last four years we’ve landed in a place where we will be for at least a while. It’s not our forever home, but it is sufficient for our needs.
Now that we’ve been here for two years we are settled. And after having finished up two books, one on crafting and one on sewing, I realized that the house was feeling very cluttered. I had bins full of crafting supplies and fabric that I no longer needed. There were also several items throughout the house that I couldn’t say why we had them. I think, because they made the first move, that I sort of hung onto them because of the trauma. Now that I’m healing, I could bring myself to let go.
And this meant facing my witchy stuff. Over the last four years I had collected more and more ite ms, mostly to provide backdrops and props for various photos. But much of them had spent their time in boxes set up too high for me to easily reach. I realized that I had a collection of tarot decks that I never used. And I hadn’t changed out my altar since last fall due to not having the energy to drag out the boxes to find what I wanted to have on the altar now.
This time, however, I needed to face my emotions around not only my stuff, but my feelings of inadequacy when it comes to my witchcraft practice. It is a feeling that is fueled by all the lovely witchy photos and videos on Instagram. The ones that show an overabundance of witchy materials, tools and supplies. All the crystals and bottles gleaming in soft lighting. The herbs are artfully arranged and scattered about to create a magical atmosphere. The statuary that decorates altars. The perfectly made tools that are used to cast spells. The tarot spreads artfully panned over while beguiling music plays in the background.
It is easy, when faced with what looks like effortless witchcraft, to look at my altar, with it’s handmade tools and dried out herbs, the dust and the burnt down incense, and feel like I’m doing witchcraft wrong. That feeling coupled with having everything put away, leads me to neglect my altar and practice. I feel like I need to wait until I can do things perfectly before I can light the candles, burn the incense, ground and center.
So when I had this urge to declutter, I knew it had to extend to my magical practice as well. I was suffocating under my own expectations and perfectionism, which was being fueled by this idea of what witchcraft is supposed to look like.
There’s this leaning towards maximalism in witchcraft. Maybe its a reaction to the fact that witchcraft was often performed in secret or on the margins for so long. Or it might just be a reality of the practice. When you are using tools and crystals and herbs and more to work your magic, you tend to equate more with better. Books, teachers, and witches will remind us that it is our intention that is important and all the accouterments are just a bonus. And yet, we still find ourselves collecting more items than we could possibly use. Maybe it’s that maximalism that calls a certain type of person to witchcraft, just as the simplicity of Buddhism attracts a different kind of person. Whatever the reason, there is an overabundance in witchcraft that can be overwhelming at times.
I started with my tarot decks. I have been collecting them for years. But most of them I hadn’t ever worked with, beyond a quick survey when I first bought them. I looked at my shelf filled with decks and saw for the first time so much wasted potential and inertia. I could almost see the dampening effect that hoarding had on the area, like a dark cloud covering everything. That sight set me in motion. I started by selling what decks I thought might be valuable on Ebay. I didn’t earn a bunch of money from the sales, but that wasn’t the point, I was sending the decks on to others where they would hopefully be used and loved. The other decks ended up being donated. At that point I was more determined to get the items out of my house than try to turn a profit.
After the decks I turned to my boxes of altar decorations, witchy items and the like. I had three mortar and pestles, two more than I would ever use. The two extra were gifted to me and I had a moment of anxiety thinking about getting rid of them. But then I thought about something I had read in Soulful Simplicity by Courtney Carver, that we should be a conduit for things gifted to us that we don’t want. We should see ourselves as just a station for the item on its way to its final destination. We don’t have to hold onto something that was a gift, we can send it on as a gift to someone else. Thinking about it that way made it easier for me to then start packing up those things that I didn’t use, and honestly didn’t even want, for sale and donation.
I pulled out all the things that I wanted to keep and placed them on my altar. It doesn’t look minimalistic right now because it is everything on one shelf, but my goal is to go through the remaining items and decide what will stay, what needs to be placed elsewhere in the house, or needs to go as well. My plan for the rest of the year is to have an altar that is functional and minimal. I want something that feels approachable and that encourages me to spend time there daily. I won’t be decorating it for the various sabbats or seasons. I want to get back to the basics of my practice.
If you want to try your hand at a magical declutter but don’t know if you can get to the point where you are actually getting rid of items you can try this tip (also from Soulful Simplicity): clear off your altar and space of any items you might want to declutter. Place them in a box and put them out of the way. Spend some time with the newly decluttered space, maybe a month, and see if you miss anything that you boxed up. If you did you can always pull it out and return it to your space. But if you didn’t miss any of the items, that might be a sign that you can send them on to their next destination.
If you are going to engage in a witchy declutter, make sure to thank the items as you are getting rid of them. This act, suggested by Marie Kondo in her book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and I find it especially relevant as a witch. Even if these items didn’t provide you with use, if they just cluttered up your space, should be thanked for their presence. Also, practicing gratitude is one of those actions that helps to improve our mood.
Finally, don’t get caught up on being perfect in your declutter attempts. There are several things that I missed the first time I went through my house. There are many items that I could have probably sold for money but I instead donated. My house is cleaner now, but I probably could have gotten rid of more (I’m looking at you bookshelves full of magical books I haven’t touched in years). The goal is not to get rid of everything the first time. The goal should be to lighten your load and to clear out some of those items that are just being dust catchers at this point. You can take this process slow, a few items at a time, if that is all you have the energy for.
However you approach your craft, whether as a minimalist or a maximalist or somewhere in between, I hope that your practice is giving you joy. If it feels like a chore, or you haven’t done it in a while, this might be your sign to look at your altar and magical space and give it a bit of a reset.