Poetry as Sacred Self-Care

By Stephanie Valente

Editor’s Note: Below is an excerpt from Valente’s book-in-progress on poetry spells.

“For the winds that awakened the stars are blowing through my blood.” – W.B. Yeats

Poetry is a one of a kind of gem when it comes to self-love. It’s a bit delicious, a bit enchanting, and a bit mysterious. If you’ve ever written a poem or even been enthralled by one, you’re a bit of a collector. You notice words that make you feel a spark, an image that makes you time travel to another space and place, or you have a secret super power: you’re able to transcend planes of existence just from a single poem. That my friend, is certainly a deliberate piece of magic.

Poetry is self-care. Poetry is magic. Poetry is an act of defiance. Poetry is a magical tool.

Self-care is a poetry for the self. It is in this chapter, I hope to show you the lifted veil between word magic and caring for your wholeness, your oneness, and your own glory. You’ll discover how to transform your ritualistic care with magic and poetry. Combining words, imagery, and ritual is a transformative experience. It’s my intention that you’ll develop self-care practices to support your whole self: the poet, the person, and the witch.

Creating poetry is a soulful and selfless act all at once. By infusing self-support with poetry writing, you’ll be able to support and manifest your innermost work with the best intentions. With these intentions, you can align your higher self with your inner child to bloom and transform freely.

As self-care is for everyone, poetry is also for everyone. You can craft a poem all on your own. You can be moved by a poem anytime and anyplace. And, you can practice self-care with poetry whenever you wish.

How is poetry magical? Poetry is an art form that compels us to notice, to observe, and to feel. It creates an innate power that was in us all along. And from that power, we conjure and we manifest. Poetry is the magic wand that unlocks your subconscious mind and experiences. As a poet, I’ve long felt like an observer in the house of the cosmos. Colors, sensory experiences, details, a wink, a nod, the rustle in nature, the wind, a fractal of light have moved my very being for no reason and every reason at all.

A poem is like a cosmic puzzle piece that can fill our souls. Life is often uncertain and uncomfortable, we might not know what that special, iridescent piece is or where it’ll come from that nourishes us. However, aesthetic word art, like poetry, can serve as a starting point to fill our spirits and align us closer and closer with our higher selves.

How is this possible? How does a simple ordering of words conjure multitudes of emotions and realizations in us time and time again? The answer isn’t as complicated as you think. Poetry enables us to speak. Poetry enables us to empower our voiceless selves with a voice.

Like poetry, the key to self-care is about finding your voice. Our voices are dreamy, ethereal, powerful, and impressive. Spell work is the ultimate power in harnessing our voices and uplifting the voice of the community in and around us. Self-care and writing is literally creating magic for the highest good of all, and it starts with you, me, and all of us.

So, how can you get started with poetry with an eye for self-care? Whether you identify as a poet or are just a casual fan, this dreamy compilation below is a way to get started before you dive into spell casting.

Magical Poetry Practices and Rituals

● Keep a list of words that intrigue you

● Design a playlist for writing music

● Save poetry quotes that speak to you

● Pull a tarot card and write a few lines in its honor

● Record your dreams in a dream journal

● Channel your emotions with free writing

● Conjure your own personal affirmation

● Write your affirmation in notebooks, post-its, note cards

● Recite your personal affirmations aloud like a line of poetry

● Get lost in music and explore lyrics

● Make a list of sounds you enjoy

● Create your own erasure poems from books or magazines

● Listen to poetry in the bath

● Pull an oracle card and look for its meaning in nature

● Explore nature without intention, just be aware of the moment

● Write in a journal without worrying about your subject or the content

● Experiment with word association games

● Write a letter as your favorite song or character

● Repeat a line of your favorite poem when you meditate

● Watercolor or draw how a specific poem makes you feel

● Ask the goddess, guardian angels, or divine energy to show you a poem in the world

● Wander and watch: where is there poetry? Outside? Inside? With animals? Work? Commuting?

● Make a list of any interesting words & phrases you hear in one day

● Light a candle or a cleansing scent that supports reading poetry or writing itself

● Develop personal rituals before writing poetry

● Close your writing time by saying thank you to the creative forces guiding you

If you’ve ever read a couple of interviews with writers on their craft, you’d soon learn that writing is a highly individualized, and often nuanced routine with ritual. The way a poet writes may look vastly different in comparison to another’s practice. Witchcraft has the same tenants. No one’s practice is exactly the same, and the manner in which you approach and develop personal spells is uniquely yours.

Study the ideas above and make them your own. Mold them around your own routines and daily life. How will they shape your self-care practice? How will they inspire your true magic? Perhaps you enjoy writing in the morning and reading in the evenings. Go with that flow, move your rituals like a current and ride a way to see where your creativity transpires. Spell work is a part of that river current. And just like a body of water, no spell or poem is exactly alike. Each time I write a poem or perform a spell, the feelings are new and unique each time. Savor that feeling, because it’s beautiful.

Stephanie Athena Valente lives in Brooklyn, NY. Her published works include Hotel Ghost, waiting for the end of the world, and Little Fang (Bottlecap Press, 2015-2019). She has work included in Witch Craft Magazine, Maudlin House, and Cosmonauts Avenue. She is the associate editor at Yes, Poetry. Sometimes, she feels human. stephanievalente.com