The Practical Magic of Creative Writuals

“I definitely have rituals, especially around writing. Wake up early and drink Courage tea.” ~ Alice Hoffman, author of Practical Magic

When I first imagined a home office, I daydreamed about living in an old English manor with a stained glass window in the library and a circular, iron staircase leading to the second floor bookcases.

There was a gold-encrusted mantel clock tick-tocking above a massive stone fireplace. A beautiful red Irish setter slept next to it on a burgundy and jade Persian rug. And I envisioned sitting at my huge wooden desk with its green banker’s desk lamp and quill pens, writing furiously amidst the perfume of musty leather.

Reality is completely different, yet still enchanting, I think. I’ve had several offices over the years but the one I have now reflects the person I have become — spiritual, colorful, creative — and completely eclectic.

I’ve surrounded myself with an organized horde of things I love — my dollhouses and roomboxes, Harry Potter doll, stuffed fairy doll, seashells, crystals, essential oils, herb apothecary, crystal singing bowl, Tibetan singing bowl, tuning forks, Ocean Drum, tingsha bells, color therapy lights, a pinwheel, a bag of jacks, and a bottle of bubbles.

Since there are at least several hundred crystals and gemstones scattered about, I call it my Crystal Cave. It’s where I summon my Inner Child to have fun, write, play, and magically manifest clarity every single day.

Room design

What does your writing space look like? Where have you placed your desk? What material is it made from?

Whenever I walk into my office, I am welcomed by a wave of good chi because that’s how I planned it. I began with a Feng Shui bagua, but eventually I just let my intuition guide me until the energy felt right.

When creating your magical writing space, select an area that has plenty of natural light and keep it clutter-free because clarity promotes successful writing magic.

Want to conjure up a bestseller? Well, that takes a whole lot of magic!

To increase your chances, place a jade or Lucky Bamboo plant on your desk, Citrine crystal, and your current writing project.

If you’re inspired by tarot or oracle decks, set up a little card reading area. (For daily messages pertaining to my creative life, I use the Nature’s Whispers deck by Angela Hartfield and Josephine Wall or The Cosmic Journey Oracle by Yanik Silver.)

Choose comfortable furniture. I sit at a large L-shaped oak desk with a swivel desk chair. I love my chair — it’s fun, it’s functional, and it has a nice violet pillow to soothe my tender bottom. I also love to swivel. Twirling clears my head and helps break up and release stagnant energy. And did I mention that it’s fun?

Now, let’s rummage through my magical chest of writing tools and see what inspires you today…

Altars

Your writing desk is an altar.

That statement might surprise you, but it makes sense because your desk is the heart of your writing, the central place for invoking word magic.

Have you displayed certain items to remind you of your current writing project? This could be a special pen, stuffed animals, jewelry, perfume, artwork, favorite quotes, tarot cards, affirmation cards, fairy lights, crystal grid, junk journal or nature objects you’ve collected from the beach or forest.

One April when I was participating in Camp NaNoWriMo, my project was Seaglass Christmas: A Little Blessing Mystery. Since it was spring, there was no snow on the ground—only green earth and pastel blossoms. So how was I motivated to write about an 8-year-old girl at Christmastime? I cranked up the Christmas tunes and set up a portable inspiration altar!

Here are some of the writing altars I have created:

Inside this gold wire basket is a miniature Christmas tree with tiny seashells and seahorses, assorted jingle bells and seaglass, and a Seaglass Christmas collage card (featuring my protagonist Elm Sunday and some of the book locales.)

ALTAR IN A JAR: For November’s month of writing, I filled a jar with Modpodged leaves and dried chrysanthemum. To reflect the autumn season, I included sprigs of Rosemary, cinnamon sticks, and cloves. I set the jar atop a wood slice and placed an LED candle inside a flower pot candleholder. Lastly, I sprinkled Citrine and Carnelian gemstone chips around the candle and added a cinnamon stick and leaf.

FOUR ELEMENTS: I filled one glass with spring Water, then the remaining three glasses with seasalt. I used an Amethyst to symbolize Earth, a stick of incense for Air, and a lit tealight candle for Fire. A wise owl ornament and Denise Linn’s “Storyteller” card from her Native Spirit deck provided more inspiration.

LOVE & LIGHT: To focus upon the angelic scenes in my Inn Lak’ech: A Journey to the Path of Oneness novel, I set up this altar with an angel figurine, angel wings candleholder, Rose Quartz, Amethyst, Selenite, a Quartz crystal ball, and three cards from Leslie Sloane’s Auracle Healing deck.

Crystal Grids

Crystal grids are an intuitive placement of stones to manifest a particular outcome like Creativity or Protection.

For the base of the grid, you could use a coaster, plate, mirror, wood slice, placemat or scarf. I often use a gemstone necklace as a boundary, like this.

To activate your grid (be sure your crystals are cleansed), take a crystal wand and draw an invisible line from the center stone to all the other stones in the grid (like this YouTube video by Ethan Lazzerini.)

A grid to promote Creativity! For the base, I used a stone coaster. I placed a puffy Blue Quartz heart in the center, surrounding it with Carnelian, Citrine, and clear Quartz points.

Are you afraid of trolls and bloodthirsty book reviewers? Below is a grid to help protect your energy.

To make this protection grid, I set a Selenite charger plate inside an antique silver coaster, then added Obsidian chips around the plate. In the center is a metal Metatron’s Cube grid with a clear Quartz tower, Obsidian, and Amethyst chips.

Visualization

Words are magical.

They can make a reader laugh or cry or worry. They can remind a reader how it feels to really love somebody.

Words can transport the reader into a place they have never been before — like a jungle, a desert, a new country. Even a new universe!

Words can put you at the master controls of a rocket, an airplane or a luxury cruise ship. You have the ability to imagine anything you wish because you are a writer.

Writing magic occurs when your intention is strong.

For clarity’s sake, visualize your writing project from beginning to end. I find it helpful to create collage cards depicting my stories and characters. They’re like mini vision boards:

This is a digital version of a collage card I created on Canva for my current book project, Moonwater Beach.

Using the SoulCollage cardmaking kit, I printed and pasted images to represent my novel, Inn Lak’ech: A Journey to the Realm of Oneness.

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Incantations

“She was fascinated with words. To her, words were things of beauty, each like a magical powder or potion that could be combined with other words to create powerful spells.” ~ Dean Koontz, author of Lightning

You saw it in Cinderella. The Fairy Godmother waved her wand, pointed at a pumpkin, and sang Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo! That’s an incantation. (And then, of course, the pumpkin magically transformed into a coach!)

As a word wizard, you can have a lot of fun writing incantations. I’ve found that rhymes are easiest to remember, like the one I wrote in five minutes to help combat writers block:

Writing is my superpower, words will always soar. In my world, no block exists, not now nor evermore.

If you prefer to write your incantation in affirmation style, here are two colorful examples:

Inhale the color Red, exhale, then say aloud: “I am a writer. I am always receiving the support I need. I have everything I need to write.”Inhale the color Violet, exhale, then say aloud: “I am a writer. I am always positive that things happen for a reason and will turn out fine. I know everything I need to write.”

Many writers create on their computers. I do, too, but I also keep a collection of pens in assorted colors. They’re my magic wands and they often take me to places my computer can only dream about, especially when it crashes or the power goes out.

I used to be quite the pen junkie, attracted to writing instruments adorned in funky feathers and gorgeous gemstones. But for magical writing purposes, I prefer the plainer Pilot Precise V5 Stick Rolling Ball Pens. I store my faves in a light-up Lord of the Rings glass mug (purchased from Burger King during my meat-eating days) and any pen that has lost its writing mojo is repaired or replaced.

Here is a simple writing “spell":

First, charge your pen by rubbing your hands together for a few seconds. Hold it in your writing hand, allowing the energy to run from your hand to the pen. Now you are one with your “wand.”

Take your pen and wave it around for a few moments, allowing your creative energy to connect from your brain to your dominant hand. Feel your writing aspirations in your heart, then see it in your mind’s eye, like this:

I am a writer. I am finishing my book. I am sending the manuscript to the publisher. I am receiving the acceptance letter. I am signing books at a bookstore. I am speaking onstage to a filled auditorium. I am hosting my own radio show. I am sitting on the couch as a guest on The Tonight Show. I am successful.

Can you feel it? Can you see it? When you truly believe and accept it, that’s when you make the magic happen!