Magick Morning: Our Daily Morning Self-Care Routine

Most mornings, Tracy and I practice a brief routine that we’ve come to call “Magick Morning”.

While this routine has evolved over time, we have settled on a set of eight key practices that we do each morning after waking up.

And don’t worry – this entire routine can be done in less than 10 minutes!

What Is Magick Morning?

Magick Morning is a daily, nature-focused spiritual practice – a check-in with our energy, the moon phase, the elements, the season, as well as corresponding plant, animal, and crystal energy to work with each day.

I will outline the ritual for you below. Please feel free to use it as-is, or adapt it for your own practice!

I recommend that you sit at a sacred space that you’ve created in your home for just this purpose.

This ritual can take as little as 10-15 minutes, or you can add to it if you have the time.

Step 1: Sound

We start our morning ritual with sound. We use a Tibetan singing bowl that was sent to us by Shanti Bowls.

Alternatively, you can play meditative music, ring a bell, clap your hands, or make any sound that “begins” the ritual.

Why it’s important: Sound breaks from the mundane part of our day, while opening and closing our ritual.

Step 2: Breathing

Right after I strike our singing bowl, I take three deep breaths in through my nose, and out through my mouth.

Doing this helps center my energy and focus on the ritual. It fully engages my body.

Step 3: Light A Candle

Then Tracy and I light a candle. It really doesn’t matter what color candle you light. You can also turn on an electric candle.

Each candle represented a specific theme for the month, and were made with essential oils and infused with Reiki energy.

Step 4: Sage *

After we light the candle, I light a cedar smoke bundle, or a sage leaf. I waft it around me and allow the smoke to clear away negative energy, stress, and tension that might hang around me.

* There are some smoke-free options for this ritual. You can simply spritz your favorite essential oil spray, or run a selenite/satin spar wand across your body.

Another option is to open a bottle of your favorite essential oil and inhale the aroma. I use tea tree essential oil for this purpose, which I find cleansing and energetically uplifting.

You can learn how to make your own smoke cleansing bundles, or purchase one of ours.

Step 5: Gratitude

Next, Tracy and I take turns saying what we’re grateful for. Usually, we pick one or two things, or we each list five things we’re grateful for.

I recommend speaking your gratitude out loud if you can – even if you do this ritual by yourself. Writing it down is also fine (keep a gratitude journal!)

Step 6: Check In With The Moon Phase

Next, we check in with the current moon phase.

Each moon phase has a specific meaning that we reflect on.

  • New Moon = Setting intentions, fresh start, reboot.
  • First Quarter = Balance, obstacles.
  • Full Moon = Reflection, fulfilment, gratitude.
  • Third Quarter = Releasing, setting boundaries, making space.

While astrology doesn’t play a huge role in our spiritual practice, I do incorporate lunar astrology into our daily ritual.

Each astrological sign that the moon transits through roughly every 2-3 days helps me focus my intentions each day.

Step 7: Check In With The Weather & Elements

Next, we check in with the dominant element of the day by acknowledging the weather.

This is the part of our ritual that changes daily.

  • On sunny days, we honor the element of fire.
  • On rainy or snowy days, we honor the element of water.
  • On windy or cloudy days, we honor the element of air.

Read more about how we work with the elements from day-to-day, as well as plant, mineral, color, and seasonal correspondences for each element.

Step 8: Acknowledge The Season

Finally, we acknowledge the season. Typically, we take a couple moments to note seasonal changes around us.

What’s blooming?

Are birds migrating?

What activity or changes are happening outside your windows?

What does this activity represent in your spiritual practice?

Here are some of the keywords and associations that we have for the seasons:

  • Winter (Yule, Imbolc): Intention, rest, incubation, potential, hope.
  • Spring (Ostara, Beltane): Growth, awakening, renewal, rebirth.
  • Summer (Litha, Lughnasadh): Joy, happiness, fulfillment, abundance, passion.
  • Autumn (Mabon, Samhain): Harvest, release, withdraw, reflect, clear space.

Closing

Tracy and I typically close our morning ritual with a simple affirmation or “prayer”.

Optional Rituals To Include In Your Daily Practice

We also add these elements into our morning routine.

Full Body Stretch: This is the first thing I like to do as soon as I get out of bed. Tracy and I love this stretch routine on YouTube.

Journaling: I am an avid journaler, so I like to take a few minutes in the morning (or at any point in the day) to clear out the mental clutter and leave it on the page.

While I like to just crack open my notebook and write stream-of-consciousness for 1-3 pages, Tracy prefers a more structured approach.

Tarot/Oracle Cards or Runes: Tracy and I always pull oracle cards during our Magick Morning ritual.

We prefer to focus on nature-themed decks, so we have plant oracles, animal oracles, and crystal oracles.

We usually pick a card from one of these decks each day. For example, you could focus on animal wisdom by pulling an animal-themed oracle card on Mondays, then do plant wisdom on Tuesdays, and so on.

Or, you can change it up depending on the weather and dominant element.

We pull animal cards on sunny days (we associate animals with the element of fire), plant cards on windy/cloudy days (plants = air), and on rainy days, we pull a card from the Saltwater Reading Cards by Laura Bowen.

You can also take time to do a simple 1-3 card tarot spread.

Tying It All Together

The purpose of this ritual isn’t to check a variety of “spiritual tasks” off a morning to-do list.

Instead, this practice is intended to be a way to check in with multiple, shifting energies from day-to-day for wisdom and guidance.

Tracy and I do this practice to keep ourselves connected to the ever-shifting moon phases, the seasons, and the weather – and to show up mindfully each day.

Tracy and I like to take a few moments at the end of our morning ritual to tie everything together for a lesson or theme of the day.

Some days will be easier to do this than others – but the more you do it, the easier it will be to build your intuition and find connections and meaning behind each activity.