Magic for Surviving the Summer

Where we live in the Midwest, the summer is getting unbearably hot and humid. These are the stretches of days of summer that just slow you down. For some, all summer long is their prime time to get work done. And depending on your climate, you may be able to work comfortably all summer long outdoors or indoors without feeling the oppressiveness of a good Midwestern August. But for witches in the Midwest or similar climates, we sometimes need to slow down.

In a similar vein to our Self-Care Magick for a Pandemic Winter, we wanted to pose a few helpful hints and tricks for taking care of yourself during these final stretches of the summer.

Check the Weather

Pretty self-explanatory on its own, but what does it have to do with self-care or magic for that matter? For one, in a practical way, keeping an eye on the weather can help you plan for any outdoor rituals and magic you may want to perform. If it’s too hot, you may want to plan something later in the evening when temperatures drop or else plan for an indoor ritual. If it happens to be less humid that day, you may find it the perfect time to do some outdoor rituals.

Two, it lets you plan for some very summer specific magic. For example, if you see thunderstorms predicted, you may decide to catch some rain for storm water. You can also use the summer’s sun and heat for charging up special magical items with some very potent fiery energy. You can also do some knot magic to catch the light of the sun to release in the winter when you may be feeling the effects of the shorter daylight hours.

Enchant Your Summer Protective Gear

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If you want to take advantage of the sunshine and warmth of the summer, consider enchanting a few of your items that you use for sun protection. This could be anything from a sun hat, parasol, hand fan, sunscreen, those cool neck fans, or a wet washcloth.

One method for enchanting these items would be to create a sigil for your intent to avoid sunburn or heat stroke or just to maintain comfort during your time outside. Using your preferred method, design out a symbol on a slip of paper. You can then burn the paper with the item nearby or you can draw it onto it someplace like directly on the cap of the sunscreen or the plastic bag you may be keeping the washcloth in.

This way you are taking care of your skin and self while enjoy the hot weather by bringing just a bit of magic into your items. It is fairly low-key magic so you don’t have to spend hours in ritual getting things prepared either.

Charge Your Water Bottle

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An important part of surviving summer heat is making sure you stay hydrated. Charging your water or electrolyte drink with the extra intention to maintain your body’s balance to stay hydrated could help reinforce drinking it. If you need reminders to keep drinking water, you may want to create a magical reminder to simply reinforce the need to drink more frequently.

Again, here you could use a sigil to place on your reusable water bottle or for more on the go charging, simply hold your water in both hands for a moment and focus on your goal of staying hydrated in the heat. You could add fruit for additional magical fruit infusion too depending on your magical associations with them.

Rest and Relax

Take time to rest and relax too during the summer. Even if you love the summer heat and humidity and can run around in it all day, you will notice many animals will chill out during the hottest parts of the day. So it may be good to avoid burnout by taking a few moments each day to rest and relax.

This is mostly just a practical self-care step, but it is super important too for recharging your batteries before you get moving more. You can always take the opportunity to sit out under a shaded tree too and just be out in nature.

Farmer’s Market

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Right now there are always Farmer’s Markets happening and they are filled with seasonal produce and goods. If there is one happening near you, take the time to visit. Check your local listings for times and days. Some will happen weekly in the earlier hours, others happen midday, and some even occur during the afternoon and evenings. It helps support your local growers and gets you some local produce that often tastes just a bit better than store bought. You can find such a variety of goods too.

While this doesn’t seem super magical on its own, it is a great way to connect to some of the local land if you are not personally inclined to garden or grow on your own. The growers at farmers markets are in connection to their local land spirits, whether conscious of it or not, and supporting them can help you connect to these local land spirits too. Plus, on a self-care level, we all have to eat and what better way to eat some great food than by getting some locally grown goodies.

Final Thoughts

As you head into the last legs of summer when the days are oppressively hot and humid, take care of yourself. Use sunscreen when you are outside. Drink plenty of water. And keep things magical.

Let us know how you plan on making it through the rest of summer.