If you're like me, you've read a lot of beginner books on Wicca and Witchcraft. And more often than not, you'll see in these books that the authors give lists and lists and lists of tools and rituals and things. Most of the tools are expensive, a lot of the rituals are long and time-consuming, and many of the practices need quite a bit of space in order to be performed. And, let's face it, we as teenagers don't have a lot of money, time, or privacy. And so that can make the Craft a little hard to practice, especially when it seems to require so much.
Well have no fear, fellow teen Wiccans/Witches/and Pagans! I have here quite a few ideas that will make your practice of Wicca and Witchcraft so much easier.
Money Issues
Let's get serious here: You really don't need all those fancy ritual tools in order to do rituals and spells and just practice the Craft in general. All you need is yourself.
Instead of casting a circle with an athame or wand, cast a circle by holding out the palm of your hand or your finger, and push energy out through your hand/finger to create the circle.
When calling the directions, use these gestures, or make up your own:
For North, hold your hands at waist level with your palms facing downwards. Press your fingers together, and allow yourself to sense fertility, foundation and solidity. Invoke the powers of earth in your mind.
For East, raise your hands about a foot higher with your palms facing away from you. Your elbows should be bent slightly. Spread your fingers out, and allow yourself to sense communication and movement. Invoke the powers of air in your mind.
For South, place your hands completely above your head. Your elbows should be straight, fully extending your arms. Close your fingers into tight fists and allow yourself to sense power, creation, force and destruction. Invoke the powers of fire in your mind.
For West, lower your hands down about a foot. Bend your elbows and turn your palms upwards. Cup your palms and press your thumbs against your forefingers and allow yourself to sense fluidity, liquidity and the ocean.
When calling the Goddess, lower your projective hand. Keep your receptive hand where it is above you. Press your middle, ring and pinky fingers of your receptive hand against your palm. Form a crescent shape with the thumb and forefinger of your receptive hand. Allow yourself to feel the Goddess and sense her reality, and sense the love, fertility, and compassion of Her. Feel and sense the powers of the Moon.
When calling the God, lift your projective hand towards the sky. Simultaneously, bring your receptive hand down. Bend the middle and ring finger of your projective hand down into your palm. Use your thumb to hold them down. Raise your pinky and forefinger towards the sky; this will create a horned shape. Feel the reality and presence of the God.
When raising energy and spellworking, simply chant and/or dance while visualizing your goal. When the energy has peaked, throw your hands in to the air to release the energy in to the universe.
If you feel that you absolutely, positively have to have tools, it's easy to find cheap, sometimes free items to use. A kitchen knife is easily an athame, a cup or wine glass a chalice. For an altar pentacle, just draw one on poster board and cut it out, or if you're in ceramic class, make one there. A ceramic bowl can be a censor or even a cauldron. To get a wand, simply go up to a tree you like, select a branch the size you feel is right, and cut it off. If you do that, remember to leave an offering to the tree's spirit in thanks for its sacrifice, such as some milk or spring water, or a ribbon. Some great places to buy cheap tools are garage sales, secondhand stores, and — my favorite — dollar stores. You can find the coolest, most unique stuff at all three places. I went to a dollar store the other week, and got ten CDs, a chalice, an incense gift set that came with an incense burner, and a bowl all for only about fourteen bucks.
Time
A lot of us have busy schedules, what with school, homework, extra curricular, and a variety of other things. It's hard for us to practice our religion while doing all of our other activities. Life can get hectic and stressful, and the last thing we need to deal with is adding a religious activity to our list. So here are some good solutions for incorporating Wicca into your busy life:
Set your clock alarm or iPod alarm to about an hour or half hour before you usually wake up. During that time, wake up slowly. Use soft music as an alarm, like Enya or nature sounds. You could even use a guided meditation to wake up with, like the Awakening meditation from the book Meditation 24/7.
Meditation 24/7 also has several other meditations for throughout the day. Simply put it on your iPod (unless it's a shuffle), put the Awakening meditation on a separate playlist, and set that meditation as your alarm in the morning. I find that when I wake up using that meditation, I feel truly awake and alert, my mind is clear, and I can make better decisions.
Treat each task, from getting ready in the morning to doing dishes after dinner in the evening, as a work of magick. During each task, consider the symbolism of it. For example, when you do the laundry, picture the dirty laundry as your past, or as the things that are weighing you down and/or making you sad. Visualize that as the clothes are washed, so too is the negativity washed away. When the clothes are being dried, your life is also dried from the burden of negativity, symbolized by the water in the wet clothes.
Talk to the Goddess and the God as you would a close friend. (Do this in your mind, though — you'll get funny looks if someone sees you sitting in your desk talking to the Goddess and God out loud. Think of the rumors.) Ask them advice when you are confronted with a problem. Call upon their guidance, and talk to them about your feelings about certain things.
Do little chants and spells for every task to make your life more magickal. For example, when you're angry or stressed, make some tea — if you have some — and while the tea is steeping, chant three times: "Fiery anger, go away, calmness come, and with me stay, soothe my mind so I can think, steep peace of mind within this drink." Or you could light a candle before doing your homework and chanting a spell to help you understand the work and remember the things you learn. Make up spells like that to make your life easier and make your feelings more balanced.
If you have an after-school job, request a day off at the sabbats (the esbats can be celebrated at night) .
If, at a sabbat or esbat, you just can't find the time to do a full ritual, simply light a candle — or not at all! — and say a prayer to the Goddess and God. You don't really have to do anything elaborate; simply acknowledging the holiday is enough.
If you have an iPod, download some Wiccan/Pagan podcasts on it and listen to them while you go about your day. Some good podcasts are Ariel’s Druidic Craft of the Wise, A Darker Shade of Pagan, and Lance and Graal. Or you could type in the search "Wiccan Podcasts" in Google and get a superabundance of different podcasts.
Subscribe to online Wiccan/Pagan newsletters and read them when you have time to check your email. One of the newsletters I'm subscribed to is the About.com's Paganism and Wicca newsletter: http://paganwiccan.about.com/. And you'll find newsletters and emailing groups on a lot of different Wiccan and Pagan sites.
Pick a time when you usually aren't doing much, like in the evening after you eat dinner and after your homework is done. Use this time to astral travel, meditate, or to simply be still and silent. Silence rejuvenates and purifies the soul. Taking fifteen minutes a day to sit and do absolutely nothing — by which I mean sitting and not doing any function at all — clears your mind and calms you.
Keep a Book of Shadows! Carry it around with you in your handbag and use it to record miscellaneous spiritual information that you pick up during the day. The info could be chants or spell ideas that pop up in your head randomly, or it could be things you see in books or on the net that you like. You don't have to use the chants or spells or other info you find, simply having it on hand is good. You can also use your BoS as a sort of diary as well as a book of magickal information. You could also keep a thought-book to write down all of your thoughts and feelings. When your mind is clear, you can make better decisions, and you can be happier.
Stay healthy! Eat good, healthy foods and exercise when you can, even if it's just walking to and from work or in between classes or in PE. When your body is healthy and strong, your magick and spiritual life is stronger and more powerful.
Recycle your trash. Part of being Wiccan is caring for and healing the earth; we all must do our part. You can even make the recycling a little fun. Keep two trashcans: one for burnable trash, and one for everything else. Find a metal barrel or trash can, and once every week or two weeks, burn all the trash in the metal barrel. Everyone loves fire, and this is a great way to have fun with fire and recycle. Take all the trash you didn't burn, and use some of it as compost (the fruits and vegetables) and give the rest — the plastic and soda cans and glass — and give it to your local recycling center.
Privacy
I'm going to assume that if you don't have a lot of privacy it's either because 1) You're in the broom closet or 2) You live in a small house or apartment and/or you don't have your own room. Here are some good solutions for lack of privacy.
If you're one of those teenagers that love to stay up late even if you have to wake up early the next morning, you can do your rituals and spells at night when everyone is asleep. If your house or apartment is really crowded, do your nighttime rituals in your backyard or in the courtyard of your apartment building, or even just in your bathroom (just remember to be quiet!).
If you have your own room, tell your family that you have a huge test or quiz to study for — this works for me since I have quizzes and/or tests every week—, hang a "Do Not Disturb — Or Else" sign on your door, lock it, and proceed. Of course, if you happen to be out-of-the-broom-closet and your 'rentals are cool with your religion, just tell them that you have to do a ritual, and that they shouldn't disturb you for at least 45 minutes. If your parents are as open-minded as mine are, chances are they'll leave you alone.
Work your spells in your mind when going about your day. You don't absolutely need a circle; just call the elements, your deities, and/or your guides in your head and chant the spell while visualizing the outcome.
If you live near a park or forest, go there to do your rituals and spells. Don't go at night, though — you know, the whole perverts and dangerous animals thing. You have to be careful.
I hope you all enjoyed my little guide, and found it useful.
To end this, I'd like to close with a little thing I found in Llewellyn's 2009 Magical Almanac:
Be Magical:
Bless yourself and others daily in invocations, rituals, and prayers.
Eco-live and be conscious of your impact on the Earth.
Move and celebrate your body in dance and movement.
Awaken yourself to being really alive with yoga and meditation.
Gratitude expands joy and promotes sharing and understanding.
Inspire others with your words, actions, and spirit everyday.
Chant, sing, celebrate, and create something every day.
Act consciously on your beliefs in some way every day.
Learn something new and teach something every day.