Bedridden Witch: Elements Edition

Bedridden witch: Divination edition

Ideas for practicing divination while bedridden: Varying in energy + mobility required - please don’t push yourself, hopefully there’s options for everyone! Quick note: I’ve only included forms of divination I personally do.

Tarot:

Tarot apps are a great way to pull a card with a tap or two (Labyrinthos and Galaxy tarot have been recommended). 

Spread the deck on a flat surface, and move your hand over to pick (let your hands sense the energy), or pick based on intuition. 

Do a two-card (or more!) spread - you don’t have to lay it out if you can’t sit up, you can hold them in your hand or place on your lap.

Sleep with the deck under your pillow.

Pick one card that represents what you want from the next day and slip it under your pillow or mattress for the night, or place on your altar.

Memorize the meanings of the cards.

Make or buy a mini deck for easier use.

Do the easy “find this card and whatever is above or below it =X” spreads.

More limited mobility suggestions here

Scrying:

Use a black mirror or picture frame with black cloth/paper behind it.

Get a mini scrying bowl and fill with water, cradle it in your hands.

Pendulum:

Wear it around your neck.

Shorten the string so you don’t have to sit up.

Prop your hand on a pillow if you need the strength/steadiness.

Use off of the side of your bed if it’s too long (this can be a bit awkward)

Keep it under your pillow.

Use a mini pendulum or a necklace as a pendulum.

Make a simple board or don’t use one at all, just condition your pendulum with basic movements.

*You CAN use a pendulum even with shaky hands, it just takes a bit of bonding and conditioning.*

More limited mobility suggestions here

Tasseomancy:

Get a mug with two handles.

Keep in a sealable container until you’re ready.

Put a towel over yourself in case you spill.

Use a Tupperware container. No shame.

Runes:

(With a huge thanks to @adragonspath for compiling a list of suggestions!)

Sleep with your runes next to you.

Memorize their meaning.

Draw one rune and meditate on their meaning and how you can manifest them in your life.

Charge them with sun/moon light by your window.

Study their origin and reading methods.

Crystal and wooden runes: connect with the element Earth and the intent corresponding to the crystal/type of wood.

Other materials: meditate on the origin and development of that material. Connect with the corresponding element and intent.

Other ideas + Posts

Automatic writing

Astragalomancy - Divination using playing dice

Oneiromancy - Interpretation of dreams in order to predict future.

Stitchomancy - Get a book. Ask question, then open book to random page and read what pops out to you.

This awesome post

Bedridden witch: Nature edition

Bedridden witch: Worship edition

All my bedridden witch posts

Limited hand mobility + witchcraft

mental transition; coming out of a depression; releasing emotional baggage

Astagyromancy: Dice Divination

Astagyromancy (also called astragalomancy) translates to "spinning of the dice" and is an ancient form of divination using dice. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays are the best days to cast dice. Traditionally, three dice are cast within a 12 inch circle. It is said that if the dice fall out of the circle, you should try again later and if they fall out three times it's a bad omen. However, if one die falls on top of another it is an extremely good omen and signifies a coming gift.

The dice should be interpreted as follows:

• 3- One of the best numbers that can appear. Pleasant surprises, good fortune, positive responses.

• 4- Disappointment, bad luck.

• 5- Wishes granted, new friendships.

• 6- A loss of some kind in the near future, possibly with money or friendship.

• 7- Sorrow, setbacks, people talking behind your back

• 8- Sign you will be falsely accused of something

• 9- Sign of weddings and good luck in love

• 10- Career advancement, child birth

• 11- Important news, happiness

• 12- Temporary separation or sickness

• 13- A good omen for some, bad for others

• 14- Secret admirer or helpful friend

• 15- Dishonesty, disagreement, gossip

• 16- Upcoming travel, pleasant journey

• 17- Change is coming

• 18- The best number that can be cast, wealth, success and happiness

Single die numbers:

• 1- Generally favorable

• 2- Your success depends on your friends

• 3- An omen of success

• 4- Disappointment and trouble

• 5- Good indications

• 6- Uncertainty and indecision

The Plagues song in Prince of Egypt goes so hard

How To Practice: Divination With Dice!

While most of us associate dice with games, they can also be used for divination. Even if we don't have access to a set of physical dice, dice rolling apps and websites are everywhere, making them one of the most accessible divination tools there is.

The method is simple: you assign a meaning to each number, then roll.

You can assign meaning through older numerology associations, or you can even assign your own meanings. Here's how this works:

Let's say you're working with a D10 (ten-sided die). You make a numbered list on which you write possible outcomes. Here's an example of a list populated with common symbolic objects:

Branch

Heart

Clover

Rock

Star

Crystal

Moon

Sun

Tree

Sky

This is of course just a quick example, and I definitely don't think it would necessarily work for everyone. Feel free to play around with your own symbols. I would personally not recommend using straightforward answers like "yes," "no," etc., unless you can demonstrably get a correct result every time (for example, correctly answering who's running the country, what year it is, etc). IMO, your intuition is where the real power lies, and you should give it lots of wiggle room.

If you're using a D12, you can even even associate the numbers with the Zodiac, starting at 1 for Aries and ending at 12 for Pisces. Or you could do the months of the year. I would suggest using them in a suggestive sense rather than a strictly literal one. (Like, don't roll to find out your next lover's Zodiac sign unless you can also correctly roll your family's Zodiac signs. If the dice can't correctly tell you your mom and dad's signs, why trust it to tell you your next partner's sign?)

So yeah, that's the basics of dice divination. Experiment and see what works for you or not.

Happy witchin'!

did u see them btw...

Advice for if your practice is feeling stressful or unfulfilling (that isn't 'just stop practicing')

Before you expand: long text post!

I think it's interesting that the first line of advice stressed and unhappy practitioners often receive is 'stop practicing! take a break,' because besides a breather this doesn't actually do anything. When a person is done with that break they're still going to have the same stressful, unfulfilling practice they did before.

Stop practicing is useful advice for someone who is about to deep-fry their brain in uncontrolled Witch Fire. It's useful advice for someone who experiences unexplainable catastrophe every time they engage in magic.

I'm not sure it's useful advice for people who want to practice and are actively seeking help figuring out how.

So here are some ideas. Feel free to add your own.

If your practice has too much of a time load:

Scrape over-engineered ritual. Examine ritual formats. Are you spending a majority of your practice time engaging in elaborate ritual? Where can that be paired down?

Swap ritual for enchantments. If ritual performs an action (laying a compass), can you substitute for that ritual action by making enchanted objects that take less time to activate (enchanted compass altar cloth)?

Minimize ingredients. If you regularly perform spells that require lengthy enchantment of ingredients, can you use fewer ingredients to achieve the same results? If you're using more than 3 correspondences for any spell, is this because you are wise in your own ways, or because you just feel that more is merrier?

Mash rituals together. Do you have a string of rituals, even small ones, that you perform one after the other? Is it possible to reorganize these so they're all done at once, in the same ritual? For example, setting out an offering to the gods, a different offering for the ancestors, another for helper spirits, etc. Can you combine these all into one single offering?

Check for over-tending. Is it possible that you're repeating magical acts, like feeding wards and cleansing, more often than you need to? Did you arrive at this schedule through trial and error, or did you just guess this is how often you should do them?

Check for your own levelup: spell maintenance. If it's been a while since you re-evaluated your ritual/offering/maintenance schedule, your increase in skills may mean you need to do these tasks less often to achieve the same result.

Check for your own levelup: techniques and routines. Some techniques, like carefully entering trance, grounding, and centering, are like training wheels that wear ruts into our paths of magic. As we improve in skill, old rituals and techniques that have been carefully couched in these helpful devices may become ingrained in us so that we can perform them in almost any state of mind, much faster and easier than we could before. Experiment with any technique you've been doing for a while and see if you still need to perform time-consuming meditative or focusing techniques before you can perform the skill.

Be reasonable with your own goals. I find most 'laywitches' give themselves daily and weekly schedules that would put actual cloistered monks to shame. Did your spirits tell you they expect daily offerings, or did you decide on that an run with it? Where are you overcompensating and overexerting in your path when nobody, including yourself, asked you to?

If your practice has too much of a work load:

Much of the advice of the prior section applies. Also,

Just work less. Are you putting in 100% effort when 20% or 30% would do? Are you treating every act of magic like a performance review that will control the outcome of your magical career? I'm not being sarcastic; an actual solution to your path being too much work is to just put in less effort. If you've never tried this you may be shocked at how effective magic can be when you're only doing what needs to be done.

Find simpler, more reasonable stuff. Find new techniques, and spell and ritual formats that are paired down to fit the amount of effort that's reasonable to exert for any given magical act. If you can't work with correspondences without a lengthy act of activation, find a way to cast simple spells that doesn't rely on correspondences.

Limit research and prep. Ask yourself how much research you reasonably need to get started on any given project. Remember that a huge amount of a witch's education is experiential; you will probably never know enough until you've already done it three or four times.

Be goal-oriented; prioritize actions. Ask yourself if you've set arbitrary workloads before you can get started with anything, such as forcing yourself to write artistic grimoire pages before you're allowed to perform a ritual you're interested in.

Learn skills to help prioritize actions. If your practice is consumed by acts of upkeep such as cleansing and empowering objects, focus on learning energy sensing so you can reasonably determine whether or not an object actually needs to be cleansed or empowered.

Administrate your own practice - what can go on the back burner? Make a list of all your active ongoing projects and maintenance, including upkeep of energy batteries, spells that require maintenance, and situations you want to change and are casting spells on. Prioritize them; see which ones you can set aside.

Restructure your projects to minimize maintenance. Consolidate spells and projects where possible. For example, if you have multiple protection spells for many people that require upkeep, condense them all onto a protection altar so you can feed and tend to them all at once.

Work in batch and bulk. See where you can do batch work to lighten your load. You can bulk enchant candles and incense, instead of enchanting incense every time you do a ritual. You can enchant oils, waters, and incense to feed your spells, taking time out of upkeep.

Levelup your charging and maintenance skills. Learn energy work to attach energy tethers to batteries and other important projects so they're able to drink from the wellspring you attach them to, and stay charged.

Scrape routines that don't serve you. Examine any daily routines. Are you doing them because they're helping you, or because you feel like you're supposed to be doing something every day? See if you can replace more intensive daily routines with something less tiring, like a prayer to your path itself.

If your practice feels too silly:

You have a right to privacy. Cocooning is valid. It's fine to take steps to limit who can see and potentially judge your practice. You can keep things to yourself until you're ready.

Tend to your emotional wellness. Self-therapy, in any form you feel comfortable with, can help mitigate the inner eye of judgement.

Reduce your beliefs to palatable doses. Believing in magic for only the duration of your work is perfectly fine. You don't have to 'believe-believe' 24/7. If you're not ready to integrate the belief of magic and spirits into your baseline worldview, don't - you can agree to buy in to those beliefs only while you practice techniques and cast spells, and then put them away the rest of the time.

Scrape stuff you really can't get past. Ask yourself what about your practice feels silly. Are there trappings - like altars, ritual movements, and speaking aloud - that you don't like? Change them. Is the idea that religious faith itself is a bit cringe? Self-therapy (or you know, the regular kind) may be assistive.

Ask for help modifying your process.Is there something very specific about a ritual or technique that you just can't get past, but you don't know how to change it? Research and see what other substitute rituals are available. Ask others and see if they can help you brainstorm.

Embrace the silliness. It's not going anywhere. Believing in your practice and holding it dear and sacred is not the same as being ✨super serious gravitas✨ all the time. There are lots of things about witchcraft, and the acts of the witch, that are silly and make you realize you're doing something ridiculous. I came out here at 2 am after it's been raining to climb down a slippery riverbed to get a branch of a tree that I think is talking to me?? Because some medieval guy said Tuesday is the planet Mars and I think trees talk to me?! Ridiculous. Yet I still love it dearly in a sacred place in my heart. It can be silly and glorious at the same time.

Cast a wider net. See if you're barking up the wrong tree. Traditional Witchcraft, folk magic, lodge magic, chaos magic, eclectic neopaganism... these things are not interchangeable. If you've never explored different traditions, why not give it a go? You might find another path that feels a lot more natural to you. A lot of people fall into a certain path just because they don't know what else they could be doing!

If your practice feels unfulfilling:

What are you doing to bring yourself fulfillment? Why did you get into witchcraft? Make a list of your top 5 reasons (if you have that many). Which techniques, spells, and rituals are you regularly performing are designed to deliver these desires to you? If one of your goals of practicing witchcraft is to 'feel connected,' how often are you performing acts where the only goal is to make you feel connected?

Grow your path deliberately in the direction of your needs. What do you wish you had in your life right now? Is it the feeling of being loved? Inner peace? Feeling like nature is alive and watching you? Look for what techniques and rituals in your practice will bring these things to you. If there are none, find or develop them.

Ask for help and share your feelings. If you work with gods and spirits, do you regularly tell them how you feel about your practice and ask them for help finding fulfillment?

Find contentment in the process. It's vital to find joy in the process. If you have regular routines or upkeep you need to do, how can you modify it so that process in and of itself is satisfying to you? Try considering the visceral element of witchcraft: the words, scents, sounds, moods, and thoughts that you want to experience in your present moment. Witchcraft is experiential: a great deal of the experience you create in the tidepools of routine is under your control.

Contemplate the larger purpose. Some witches do have magical chores and responsibilities they can't or shouldn't shirk. If this is true of you, and you can't modify those routines, try refocusing on why you're doing them and the importance they hold in your path. See if you can find balance elsewhere in your practice that feels rejuvenating; sort of a 'work-play' balance of your own craft.

Set short-term goals you can celebrate. Are you undertaking a lot of 'workout routines' that are designed to basically make you magically buff, or get good at a particular skill, but you're doing them with no endgoal? Try creating short-term goals that excite your sense of wonder or accomplishment. Like, practicing tarot until you can read the Celtic Cross, or practicing energy work until you can make a four-element layered energy shield. Build goalposts for yourself, both in the short and long-term, and celebrate your successes.

Scrape routines you're not doing for any good reason. Are your regular practices things you're doing because they fill you with mystery and wonder, or because you're just pretty sure that's the kind of thing witches do? If you're bored or unfulfilled by a particular routine, consider stopping it altogether, especially if you can't think of any short-term goals that it's helping you work towards. Think about the reasons you got into witchcraft: what practices would help you fulfill those reasons, while also feeling good to practice?

Seek out a likeminded community. A good working group of friends can be invaluable. My close group of witch friends, whom I've been hanging out with for years, started as a Tumblr post asking if anyone wanted to make a small server to study witchcraft. Reach out and see who's out there to study with, talk to, and practice with. It can be loads of fun to do short-term study and practice challenges with friends, and a great way to get feedback and support.

Evaluate your spiritual relationships. Although it can be painful and challenging, sometimes we enter into our paths working with gods and spirits that after some time, we need to move on from. Is it possible your path has become stagnant because you don't want to keep working with a god or spirit that your path has been built around? It may be time to see how you can move on.

When 'take a break' might be helpful advice to heal your practice:

Of course, YMMV :)

'Taking a break' doesn't mean stop being a witch, stop believing in magic, or stop 100% of your practice. It can also mean putting a lot of projects on the back burner, switching to bare-minimum (or below minimum) maintenance, and squashing regular routines.

I'm talking specifically about taking a break in the interest of your own practice - not the conditions under which someone is ""allowed"" to stop practicing witchcraft.

Take a break to rest and let your seeds germinate. 'Fallow periods,' when you have no desire or motivation to practice witchcraft, and when it seems like there's nothing for you to do, are normal. Some witches experience this cyclically, perhaps during certain seasons or when predictable life conditions are met. There's no need to force yourself to practice when it's just not flowing. The snow on your mountaintops needs to melt to replenish your waterways, bestie. There's nothing wrong with you, the sun just isn't out yet.

When you're hitting yourself with a hammer. When something in your practice is triggering or harming you, and stopping will have no consequences, then stopping your practice for a while is probably a good idea. Use the downtime to seek healing or reformat your practice.

To open your life up for necessary work. Not every witch can out-path every problem. Consider taking a break when the problem is something you will have time and energy to work on if not for your regular magical practice.

When you're about to deep-fry your brain with Witch Fire. Consider taking a break when the problem with your practice is that you are practicing too often - such as fatigue due to excessive spellwork, divinatory obsession, trouble staying out of the spirit world (compulsive astral travel), or focus on spirits/magic/the spirit worlds are starting to erode your home, school, or work life.

To let the ripples settle. When you've done so much magic or ritual work that your life is a boat on a stormy sea, and you just need to batten down the hatches for a while and let things settle.

What Constitutes An Altar?

An altar, a sacred space used for worship, meditation, and magickal practice. It serves as a focal point for spiritual energy, spellwork, and connection to deities/spirits, ancestors, or personal intentions. However, an altar doesn’t need to be elaborate or expensive—its power comes from the intention, not the appearance. There may be some debate on the topic, but ultimately an altar is a space created with intention and spiritual purpose, and that's as specific as you can get. This is because each altar is as unique as it's creator and their magick.

Essential Components of an Altar

An altar can be as simple or elaborate as you need. While traditional altars may have statues, candles, tools, and crystals, a minimalist or budget-friendly altar can be just as effective.

Basic Elements of an Altar:

• Surface – A small table, shelf, windowsill, box lid, or even a cloth spread on the floor.

• Representation of Spirit/Deity/Intention – This can be a photo, a symbol, a small figurine, or even a handwritten name or sigil.

• Personal Objects – Anything meaningful like jewelry, a cup, a handmade charm, or natural objects from your environment.

Elemental Representations (Optional):

• Earth – A rock, salt, soil, a small potted plant.

• Air – Incense, a feather, a piece of paper with a prayer or spell.

• Fire – A candle, a matchstick, a small LED light.

• Water – A small bowl of water, a seashell, a vial of rainwater.

Creating an Altar with Limited Space

If space is a concern, you can adapt your altar to fit small or temporary setups:

• Portable Altar (A Box or Pouch) – Store sacred items in a small wooden box, tin, or fabric pouch and set them up when needed.

• Wall or Vertical Altar – Use a floating shelf, a corkboard, or wall hooks to create a sacred space.

• Digital Altar – A private folder on your phone or computer with images, prayers, and intentions can serve as a modern altar.

• Hidden or Foldable Altar – If privacy is needed, keep items in a drawer or behind books and only bring them out during practice.

Low-Cost Altar Ideas

You don’t need expensive ritual tools—many everyday or natural items work just as well:

• Candles – Birthday candles, tea lights, or even an LED candle.

• Incense Alternatives – Dried herbs (like rosemary, sage, or cinnamon) burned in a small fireproof dish.

• Crystals & Stones – Local river stones, shells, or even broken glass polished by the ocean.

• Offerings – A piece of bread, a drop of honey, or fresh water.

• Statues & Symbols – Print out images, draw sigils, or create simple handmade representations.

• Chalice Alternative – Any cup, mug, or small bowl can be used for offerings.

• Wand or Athame – A twig, butter knife, or even your own fingers can direct energy.

Maintaining & Empowering Your Altar

• Keep it Clean – Even a simple space should be treated with respect and intention.

• Change It with the Seasons – Add seasonal items like leaves in fall, flowers in spring, or snow water in winter.

• Use What Feels Right – Your altar is personal—only include what has meaning for you.

• Charge It with Intention – Light a candle, say a blessing, or simply sit in meditation to empower your sacred space.

An altar is not about luxury or appearance—it’s a personal, sacred space where you connect with the divine, your inner self, or your magickal practice. Even in a small, low-budget setting, your altar holds immense spiritual power when built with intention, meaning, and respect.

Every day devotion

These are simple acts of devotion that I do, as a devotee of Inanna (goddess of sex and war). I always try to at least do one act of devotion a day. I have a lot of issues that Inanna (and Lady Ereshkigal) are helping me through.

Say goodmorning/goodnight - whether it is right when I wake up or an hour or say later, right before I close my eyes or right before I do my nightly doomscroll, I try to say goodmorning and goodnight every day.

Washing my face - I try to turn things I know are good for me into devotional acts so I will want to do them. I usually only have the time and energy to wash my face once a day, but even so, it's still something.

Listen to music with her - usually done on my way to or from work, I will play her playlist, or another one, but invite her to listen with me, and I almost always feel her presence. If I get the feeling she doesn't like a song, my car radio screws it up and repeatedly pauses it until I change the song.

Drinking water - water is a necessity in life, and access to clean, cold, safe water to drink is a luxury that people who originally worked with her didn't have access to the way I do.

Eating food - I've made a post before about how Inanna is sad when I don't eat if I'm hungry, so if I was feeling her presence I will devote the act of eating to her.

Wearing jewelry - I have a lapis lazuli necklace I wear for her every day. It's simple, I got it off of etsy, but you could easily dedicate anything you have to them. I've had a (locally and ethically sourced) coyote Claw bracelet for a few years now and I am thinking wearing it for Lady Ereshkigal.

Veiling - I don't veil every day, I used to but it ended up causing me issues with my hair. Currently I veil about once a week, but it is something small that can fairly easily be done every day

Libation - libations are the act of pouring a liquid directly onto the earth, and it can be done with anything from tap water to top shelf Whiskey. If you have the means to pour out $100+ of liquor you go right ahead, I will continue giving my goddess(es) the first like ounce/ounce and a half of my daily coffee from my local shop. Or, if there is anything I try and do not like, they get the rest of it. Some people might think it rude to give them things you don't like, but I don't. If it doesn't go towards my gods it's getting thrown away, and that doesn't sit right with me. It's not getting drank by me so it might as well go to them.

Reading/writing/playing video games - I read a lot and I have a couple books I'm writing, one of which is specifically dedicated to Inanna. And I recently built a temple to her in the Sims 4, so whenever I feel like dedicating the time to her, I play in that save.

Three Card Tarot Spreads

Time

Past / Present / Future

Today / Tomorrow / Next Day

Morning / Afternoon / Evening

Beginning / Middle / End

Yesterday / Today / Tomorrow

Week / Month / Year

Self

Fear / Why it’s invalid / How to overcome

Who you were / Who you are / Who you will be

Mind / Body / Spirit

Who you’re meant to be / What to work on / When to know you’re there

Strengths / Weaknesses / What to do with them

dreams / fears / reality

Relationships

What’s healthy for the relationship / What isn’t / What needs work

What you like about your partner / what you undervalue / how you can appreciate them better

What you can do less / what you can do more / what you haven’t been doing

What you need from your partner / What you can give your partner / How to make sure everyone’s needs are met

Situations

Positive / Negative / Reality

Best case / Worst case / Most likely outcome

Goals / Obstacles / Solution

Problem / Solution / Likely Outcome

Pro / Con / Best Choice

problem / cause / solution

What you have control over / What’s out of your control / What you need to know

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