BuddhistCatholicContemplativeEvangelicalGeneral ChristianHinduJewishLatter-day SaintMuslimNew VisionsProgressive Christian
Beliefs
- Buddhist
- Catholic
- Contemplative
- Evangelical
- General Christian
- Hindu
- Jewish
- Latter-day Saint
- More Voices
- Muslim
- New Visions
- Pagan
- Progressive Christian
Topics
- Religion News
- Food and Religion
- Sports and Religion
- Religious Art
- Religious Music and Entertainment
- Religious Events
- History and Religion
- Style and Religion
- Politics and Religion
- Women in Religion
- Recreation Outdoors and Religion
- Business Finance and Religion
- Careers Workplace and Religion
- Education and Religion
- Family Parenting and Religion
- Health Fitness and Religion
- Home and Religion
- Relationships and Religion
- Technology and Religion
- Travel and Religion
Columnists
- Buddhist Columnists
- Business Finance and Religion Columnists
- Careers Workplace and Religion Columnists
- Catholic Columnists
- Contemplative Columnists
- Education and Religion Columnists
- Evangelists Columnists
- Family Parenting and Religion Columnists
- General Christian Columnists
- Health Fitness and Religion Columnists
- Hindu Columnists
- History and Religion Columnists
- Home and Religion Columnists
- Jewish Columnists
- More Voices Columnists
- Latter Day Columnists
- Muslim Columnists
- New Visions Columnists
- Nonreligious Columnists
- Pagan Columnists
- Politics and Religion Columnists
- Progressive Columnists
- Recreation Outdoors and Religion Columnists
- Relationships and Religion Columnists
- Religion News Columnists
- Religious Art Columnists
- Religious Events Columnists
- Religious Music and Entertainment Columnists
- Sports and Religion Columnists
- Style and Religion Columnists
- Technology and Religion Columnists
- Travel and Religion Columnists
- Women in Religion Columnists
Resource Library
- 2026 Calendar
- Library of World Religions
- The 100 Most Holy Places on Earth
- Patheos Answers
- Podcasts
- Videos
- Faith Leaders Database
- Anglican Episcopalian
- Bahai
- Baptist
- Buddhism
- Christianity
- Confucianism
- Eastern Orthodoxy
- Hinduism
- Holiness and Pentecostal
- ISKCON
- Islam
- Judaism
- Lutheran
- Methodist
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- New Age
- Paganism
- Presbytarian and Reformed
- Protestantism
- Religion Behind the Scenes
- Roman Catholic
- Scientology
- Shia Islam
- Sikhism
- Sufism
- Sunni Islam
- Taoism
- Zen
- See all religions
Research Tools
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support
- Trending:
- Forgiveness
- |
- Marriage
- |
- Consciousness
- |
- Death Penalty
- |
- Election
- |
- Halloween
- Home
- Pagan
- Witchcraft for Coping During Difficult Times
Witchcraft for Coping During Difficult Times
Last updated on: November 5, 2018 at 2:45 pm by Heron Michelle
Witchcraft for Coping During Difficult Times 2018-11-05T14:45:28-04:00 Heron Michelle
Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.
These last two years since the Presidential elections have been exceedingly difficult in America. I might have said that they were difficult for the just the progressives and minorities among us, but considering how terrified, angry and paranoid the #MAGA crowd behaves, I don’t think anyone is immune from this desperation. I mean, you don’t shoot up schools, concerts, synagogues, or yoga studios, or send pipe bombs because you’re having a great day. For Witches, it is an especially tough time to be gifted with a broader-than-average perception of how the Trump administration’s actions will ripple into an even more uncertain future. I offer a Pentacle Approach to Wellness, that I hope will help witches cope during difficult times.

American Flad CC0 Creative Commons – Pixabay
Witchcraft for Dark Times
Immediately after the 2016 election, I hit the skids: emotionally and spiritually. I was slammed as a paranoid snowflake and a social justice warrior in the comments of my post-election day article: Blue Witch in a Red State: Election Horror and the Advice of Wizards, because I feared that horrible things would happen. It didn’t take a psychic to know this shit-show was coming to town – they told us exactly what kind of loathsome assholes they planned to be during the campaign. Boy, have they delivered!
Blue Witch in a Red State: Election Horror and the Advice of Wizards
The election results threw me into shock. I’m sure I wasn’t alone in feeling vulnerable and anxious. Fear for the safety of our world over-took me. Yet, I am a witch, and witches are supposed to have conquered their fears. So, I returned to basic witchcraft 101 practices to steady myself, and regain my power as best that I could. I shared my thoughts about that in my article: Pentacle Approach to Wellness through Dark Times, where I wrote:
Frustration, anger, anxiety and depression are normal side-effects of increased spiritual awareness–it’s the opposite of “ignorance is bliss.” Once you turn the light on and see the bigger picture, you tune in and feel the greater connections, there will be a lot to process, and it isn’t always pretty. Let’s face it, since the 2016 election of Donald Trump, we’ve been subjected to a world-wide dumpster fire with plenty to upset the balance of wellness. Just like the waning sun, you may be having a dark time. Fair enough. The question is, what are we to do about it?
My first rule of witchcraft is Don’t burn the Witch, and that begins with self-care. The Witches’ ways aren’t easy fixes; yet, our techniques should help us remain balanced and effective, even while the world burns, strengthening us so we can help our society.
Over the two years since then, I slowly added five more installments with balancing exercises for each layer of the self, according to the 5 elements. Those articles discussed balance through both the projective and receptive lessons of earth, air, fire, water and spirit. As we approach the 2018 mid-term elections, I know that both the tensions and the stakes are higher than ever, so today I compiled a handy index of my Pentacle Approach to Wellness series so that we can keep up the good fight.
The Pentacle Approach to Wellness: A Five-Pointed Plan of Balance
A holistic approach to wellness is based upon the interconnection between consciousness and the body. A magickal approach to wellness works for a harmonic balance between many subtle layers of the self. The mental, emotional, will and spiritual bodies form a lens through which you experience your physical body, and vice versa*…*This concept is symbolized by the Pentacle, an encircled five-pointed star, and is a symbol of modern witchcraft.
Earth: Balancing the Physical Body
By Earth we balance our physical bodies, through preparing good food, good sleep, self-care of grooming, and maintaining our dwelling spaces.
The Pentacle Approach to Wellness: Balancing the Physical Body
Air: Balancing the Mental Body
By Air we balance our mental bodies, with careful consideration of our beliefs, meditation and speaking affirmations.
Fire: Balancing the Body of the Will
By Fire we balance the body of our Will, taking actions to align us with the Highest Divine Will, igniting motivations to achieve our sacred mission.
Water: Balancing the Emotional Body
By Water we balance our emotional bodies, identifying what wounds us, defining our boundaries, and learning to respond through Divine Love.
Ether: Balancing the Spiritual Body
We balance our Spiritual bodies by bringing our God and Goddess selves into co-creative balance, so that we may claim our personal sovereignty, and gain a broader, transcendent view of life.
The Pentacle Approach to Wellness: Balancing The Spiritual Body
No matter what happens election day, and in the remaining two years of this hideous administration, stand strong. No one here is alone; start with taking good care of yourself, so that you’ll have the strength to defend against those who would destroy what we hold sacred. In these dark times we need balanced and powerful witches seeing the bigger picture, rising above all the divisiveness and doing the good work of healing in our society. Thank you for reading, and thank you for witching; your work is important.
May the “Blue Wave” restore depth and purpose to our society once more, and raise all ships together to a better place.
~Heron
About Heron Michelle
Heron Michelle is a witch, priestess, mom, artist and shopkeeper living in Greenville, North Carolina. Connect with her on Facebook: Witch on Fire: Heron Rising Services and follow her on Twitter @HeronMichelle13. You can read more about the author here.
Previous Post

November 1, 2018
How to Avoid Being Burned at the Stake: A Guide for Pagan Leadership
Browse Our Archives
Select a Category Arts, Crafts & Cooking Business Cermony and Liturgy Columns Comedy Community Death Elemental Witchcraft Health and Wellness Holidays Interfaith Life Love, Sex & Relationships Magic or Magick Nature Politics Prayers, Poems, Blessings & Stories Recipes Rites of Passage Ritual and Practice Science and Research Shopkeeper Saga Technology Theology, Ethics, Philosophy Uncategorized Witch on Fire
Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 November 2025 September 2025 August 2025 May 2025 November 2024 September 2024 August 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 September 2023 August 2023 May 2023 February 2023 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 April 2022 March 2022 December 2021 November 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 December 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 August 2015 July 2015
Follow Us!
TAKE THE
Religious Wisdom Quiz
Who is known for teaching that "faith without works is dead"?
Select your answer to see how you score.
Paul Peter Jude James
Related posts from Witch on Fire
Medusa Magick for Sexual Sovereignty
A Witch Honors Dolly Parton among the Mighty...
2027 Witch's Wheel of the Year Calendar
Restoring the Watershed of Divine Love
TRENDING AT PATHEOS Pagan
The Sermon on the Mount, Part I: Matthew...
The Sermon on the Mount, Part I (Matthew 4:12-5:12) St. Matthew moves...
What's up from Crossway: Reviewing some of their latest A few weeks...
Janie Learns the Way of the Cross: A...
Teaching children about Jesus' Passion can be challenging. Many parents and educators...
Looking For Good Catholic Writing - October 2026
He alone extends the heavens, and he walks upon the waves of...
In "Irreplaceable," our book on vocation and technology, Trevor Sutton and I...
I was strolling through the top floor of the brand new Parthenon...
view all Pagan blogs
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support
- About Us
- 2026 Calendar
- Videos
- Podcasts
- Library of World Religions
- Faith In Media Tracker
- Advertise With Us
- Write for Us
- Privacy Policy
- Terms of Service
- Do Not Sell My Data
- Contact Us
- Radiant Digital
- Manage Newsletter Subscriptions
- Unsubscribe From Notifications
- Sitemap
Copyright 2008-2026, Patheos. All rights reserved.
Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In













