Beauty Witchcraft: Practicing Self-Love Through Spirituality
By Alexandra Grieco
Graphic by Madison Mercardo
In the corner of the dresser in my childhood bedroom, under postcards from past vacations and beside my heirloom vintage lamp, lies a tiny femininity altar. Curated from a 1960s hand mirror set I inherited from my grandmother, my shrine is not the dark and gothic Wiccan altar typically associated with witchcraft. It has pale pink and white candles dripping wax on the reflective surface, tiny rose quartz crystals scattered around the mirror’s perimeter, small pieces of paper with written manifestations, and rosary beads with the Virgin Mary piled in the center. Sitting above spell materials is the altar’s centerpiece — a Britney Spears prayer candle. This is half a joke and half deadly serious. My femininity altar is a concoction of many things: my Catholic upbringing, a fascination with witchcraft, my shameless expression of my femininity, and my love for all things beautiful and divine. It draws on glamor witches from pop culture, like Veronica Lake in I Married a Witch, Samantha Robinson in The Love Witch, Lana Del Rey’s Lust For Life album, and whimsigothic movies of the 1990s. It places the power of beauty, something I have had a life-long struggle to see in myself, into my own hands.
Beauty Witchcraft blends spirituality with wellness and feminism to increase self-love and inner confidence. Practicing this form of craft is a singular experience, differing from person to person and what they view beauty to be. It is not about shaping yourself to society’s standards, but celebrating your features for their natural and distinctive appeal. You do not need to be a high priestess or practice spellwork to integrate beauty witchcraft into your wellness routine — it can take form in simple and brief moments in your day. Here are a few ways you can practice beauty witchcraft to practice spiritual self-love.
Build a Feminine Altar
Collect pieces that make you feel the most beautiful: a pair of earrings inherited from your mother, a favorite lipstick, a comb you’ve had since childhood, etc. Place them in one spot to connect the energies together.
Light Candles as You Get Ready For the Day
Different colored candles have different meanings. Pink candles work for harnessing self-love, white candles can be good for healing, and red candles for sexuality. Light the candles as you get ready in the morning as an easy way to practice feminine witchcraft.
State Your Intentions As You Brush Your Hair
Our hair holds energy and symbolizes strength. When you brush or style your hair, try saying words of self-confidence to take advantage of this energetic experience.
Write Down Manifestations
Make a list of every part of yourself that you wish to become more confident about. Then, state your wishes in grateful sentences, using the words “I Am” – for example, “I am absolutely beautiful from head to toe,” or “I am so grateful that I have healthy and clear skin.”
Do Spellwork
Beauty spells can be found in books and online articles. Here is one from Dazed Magazine:
Leave a bowl of rose water under the moon overnight.
To begin, sit cross-legged in front of the mirror, with the rose water. Practice breathing into your belly, circulating your breath around your body. Place your hands over the rose water, palms outstretched. Visualise your highest version of self in the region between your eyebrows. It shouldn’t be drastically different from how you already appear, and could even be unrelated to changing yourself, perhaps even just a happier or more confident version of self. Once you have a clear image, describe your desired image in present tense, theatrically, into the water.
Ex: “I am a magnetic, spectacularly unique, elven queen, with cobwebbed lashes and eyes of gold.”
When you have finished, wash your face and palms with the rose water. Place palms outstretched facing the mirror, and imagine magenta light seeping out from your palms onto your face, dousing your mind and body in beauty.
Continue with your regular or desired beauty routine, and commit this image of self to memory and conjure it up throughout the day. Repeat daily until you see results.
Tell Yourself You Are Beautiful In The Mirror
A simple way to build your confidence is to look in the mirror daily and tell yourself that you are beautiful. It is as simple as that.