Color Magick and Witchy Little Risks 81-93
There is much implied in the word “witch,” but one of the most important implications for me is that witches work with energy (I see magick as just another form of energy, like electricity, but, you know, woo-woo). In working with energy, or magick, we engage with our surroundings in profound ways. Instead of just smelling the rose in the garden, we connect with her – we come to appreciate how she grows, the nourishment she needs, the beauty of her petals and the protection of her thorns. Through these connections, these intentional attempts to understand her in the deepest way we can, we learn from her, and we learn to channel her unique attributes if we so choose. The picture of the rose ceases to be just an image and instead becomes a symbol imbued with many layers of meaning. Sure, we can wear rose essential oil, and we can put roses in a vase on our kitchen table, but when we really choose to know the rose, we can be her. We can embody the essence of the rose, approach the world with her perspective. We can channel that unique kind of beautiful strength, and we can lean on her when we need this kind of support.
I had a conversation with a friend, a nurse practitioner, whose mother had decided that she wanted to start taking Ozempic for weight loss. Her mother went to the doctor, and the doctor denied her request for the prescription. Instead of taking the option to find a different prescriber or to resign herself to remaining the same weight, she found a way to channel the energy of Ozempic to effect the outcome of her choice – a 40 pound weight loss. My friend’s mom decided to pretend to give herself the Ozempic injection once per week, and it worked. She didn’t lose the weight overnight, but where before she had been unable to make changes in her diet, she was able to make these changes with the energetic support of Ozempic. My hypothesis is that she had the desire to lose the weight; she had found the right motivation that set her on fire, and then she was emotionally invested in her goal – she felt the joy, freedom, fulfillment in visualizing this version of herself, she engaged her mind in the process, knowing the way Ozempic worked and seeing with her own eyes the benefits it had had with people she knew, she took a symbolic action step in miming giving the injection, and then her body had no choice but to respond. There was coherence with soul, heart, mind, and body, and all the while she had the energetic support of the medication without having to actually take it.
Perhaps you’ve also channeled the energy of something – have you ever gotten a buzz from a non-alcoholic beer? Or gotten high from a normal brownie that someone told you contained THC? Or maybe just a whiff of ginger settled your stomach?
For this last set of witchy little risks, I spent some time getting to know 10 different colors, to feel the energy of each one in order to learn how I might channel them. Just from being a person alive, I have my own connections to the colors, memories with them, associations buried in my subconscious that affect my choices at every moment. I set out to unpack some of these associations by leaning into the color, intuitively letting it determine my actions, feelings, and word choices. I still have much to learn about each of these colors, but I made some new friends – brown makes me feel funnier than I actually am, and orange really lights me up! Now, I can channel each color on purpose in working my magick and manifesting an outcome.
Witchy Little Risks 81-93
#81 – Releasing fear in 2025 – As we neared the end of 2024, I made a decision to leave some sticky feelings behind in order to make room for the new. Fear has held me back from so many experiences, and I decided I would set aside my fear of embarrassment and record myself coaching me out of my fear. I worried that the idea of self-coaching might be taken as strange, I worried a bit about what other people might think, but then I thought, what better way to release my fear than to just do it in a public way? There was tremendous freedom in the act of me coaching myself, and then even more freedom in putting it out into the world to be taken in in whatever way it would be taken in. The act of releasing it was liberating. I can’t say I’ve abandoned all fear of what other people will think, but this gesture definitely helped me release the fear of coaching myself, and now I do it often.
#82 – Releasing guilt in 2025 – I also felt compelled to release guilt going into the new year. I had been feeling badly about leaving my job as a pharmacist to pursue this dream of helping people find their inner magick and sense of empowerment; my husband was carrying the weight of this choice too, as much as I wish I could shoulder it all alone. In the end, I had to remind myself that if I had stayed in that job, I would have continued to be burnt out – I would have continued to feel like I wasn’t really living, and as a result I would have been less present, less fulfilled, and less available to the people I love. I took a risk sharing these feelings, and it was a tremendous release just to speak it out loud.
#83 – Set ego aside and have hard convo with husband – it’s funny how once you find you what you want/your highest motivation, you feel the positive emotions that your desire sparks in you, and you get your mind on board by articulating what you want in language or writing, that the Universe responds with your answer. I had set the intention to release my guilt, and the next day, I knew what I had to do to make that come to fruition – I had to put on my big girl pants and have a hard conversation with my husband. This is just what I did, and how grateful I am to have done this and found some clarity.
#84 – Channeling the color white – To kick off the new year, I decided to opt for a fresh blank canvas – to channel the color white. Channeling white felt like hope and naivete, like possibility. When I saw three little white deer tails hop by me during my evening run, I was a little kid again, so enamored with nature that she could provide such a magickal experience. It was also a day of knowing that at any moment, white becomes not-white. As I ate my mother-in-law’s delicious pepperoni sauce, I felt that each bite could mean my white shirt turned red. White is the innocence that is so fleeting. It’s the beginner mindset, the Fool in the tarot. It’s how we come into this world before experience gives us color and something unique to offer. The nice thing is, we can still call on white when we need this uncomplicated faith and hope. We can embody white to open ourselves up to learning and experiencing the world from a place of simple appreciation and possibility.
#85 – Channeling the color brown – When I hear the word brown, my mind goes to poop. What can I say? I have the sense of humor of a 5-year-old, which is the age I was when my mom wrote the following song to keep me quiet on a long car ride: “oh I pushed and pushed and pushed until I pooped. I pushed and pushed and pushed until I pooped. Oh I pushed so very hard, that I had a little fart, oh I pushed and pushed and pushed until I pooped.” When my friend introduced me for my valedictory address at my high school graduation, he ended his intro by just saying the word “poop” so I would laugh and be more at ease for my speech (what an awesome friend, right?). I wasn’t necessarily thinking about funny things when I started channeling the color brown, but I think this subconscious association with poop made me feel a little silly and playful all day. It even got me to hide in and pop out of the couch! As I went through my day, I thought about how brown is both dirty (or poopy) and beautifully natural. It’s the trunks and roots of the trees, it’s pretty leather shoes, it’s the fertile soil that births life. Brown allows for the mundane to be beautiful, to be funny. It’s a new favorite color.
#86 – Channeling the color purple –. I have found that purple is one of those colors that people either LOVE, like at the level of wearing it every day, or they are just not drawn to it at all. I am the latter. When I decided to channel purple, I realized that I didn’t own any purple clothing at all. I borrowed my husband’s purple shirt, I and tried hard to settle into the mindset of purple, but I found myself grasping a bit. I tried eating some grapes and jelly, I drank a lavender kombucha, I painted my toenails purple, and I still felt like I didn’t quite connect to this energy. Some say purple is the color associated with the energy of the third eye, with spirituality and connection. I bore this in mind as I went to an ecstatic dance event with my friend. It was there at the dance when I felt myself lean into the purple. In that room full of strangers moving their bodies without shame or constraint, I felt part of a sea of souls, connected to something outside of myself. It’s still not my favorite color, but I’ll call on it in the future when I need a reminder of how we are all one.
#87 – Channeling the color pink – I woke up this particular morning to a text from friend who is reading my book, and in her message, she was so incredibly kind and shared that she was enjoying reading it. When you set out to start your own business, you leave behind the praise and positive reinforcement that comes from working for someone else. More often than not, it can feel like you’re calling into a void and hoping someone is listening. Hearing something kind or positive from someone about your work becomes so much more of a gem; it’s downright magick. As I started my day with this love, I knew it was a day to channel pink. For me, pink is the color of love. It’s not a passionate love, but an unconditional love, a love without expectation, and a love that we can give ourselves. In channeling pink, I decided to fill my own cup so I could spill that love out to the other people in my life. I spent some time journaling, working with clay, reading. I took the dog for a walk in the frigid wind because she loves it and I love her. Then I tackled the laundry. Usually, I’m antsy to get it done and move on to the next thing, but this day, I channeled pink, and the whole laundry process felt like a way to love myself and my husband as I handled each article of clothing with care, felt the textures of the fabric, and found each piece its proper home. I reminded myself that we can infuse love into everything we do, and pink can help me do this.
#88 – Channeling the color blue – blue is my favorite color. It’s the color associated with the throat chakra, the energy of communication and speaking our truth. It just so happened that I was going to be in a TV commercial with my brother on this day, and we both wore blue to communicate our message clearly. The whole day reminded me of a time back in our youth when we stood in front of the bathroom mirror and pretended to host a talk show. I don’t remember what we talked about back then, but this commercial was a great throwback to the joy of our younger days. It was also a chance for me to appreciate how talented my husband is as a director. He directed and filmed our commercial, and he made my brother and me so at ease, we laughed our way through the whole experience.
Much of my wardrobe is blue – I suspect I am drawn to this color for a reason. I suspect in this lifetime, I am meant to find a way to speak my truth, and blue is a color I know I can lean on to do just that.
#89 – Channeling the color yellow – In the cold, dark of winter, I was feeling ready for some light, for a reminder that the sun will make its return, that this uncertain phase of my life building a business won’t be forever. The warmth will come back again. As a symbolic gesture, I decided to make some literal lemonade out of lemons, and in so doing, I felt my power to be able to change my mindset and circumstances. Yellow is the solar plexus chakra, the energy center that is associated with self-confidence, identity, and ego. Channeling yellow reminded me that it’s ok to acknowledge the fact that we don’t always feel optimistic, but that we can choose to lean on the energy of allies around us, like yellow, to get what we need. We’re not alone in any of this, even though our ego might tell us we are.
#90 – Channeling the color red – I’ve had my aura photographed twice in my life, and both times it was a whole lot of red. Red is the color of the root chakra, the energy that grounds us in our lives and bodies. It’s a color I don’t often wear, but I feel it. To me, it’s energy in motion, like a fire burning fast and furious. It’s my default mode to burn hot and then burn out. It’s an energy I’m learning to balance as I better understand how to nourish my heat without letting it consume me in the process. Every job I’ve had, I’ve given it everything I had, and then I felt depleted. Red reminds me to stop sometimes and reflect and refuel to keep going for the long haul.
#91 – Channeling the color orange – When I was in a position to buy my first car, I chose an orange Subaru. I even upgraded the model of my car from what I had initially intended to buy just so I could have it be this color. I wasn’t consciously aware of it at the time, but I was a single gal channeling the color of desire. Orange is the Dunkin’ logo, the most delicious crunchy snack foods, the Reese’s peanut butter cup, the pumpkin spice latte. It’s what we want. When I was 23 years old, I wanted to be wanted, and lucky for me, I met my husband while I was driving this cute little orange ‘Ru around. I sold this car a few years ago and bought a grey one instead, but channeling orange this day reminded me of how good it feels to want. I didn’t own anything orange prior to this challenge, but I look forward to wearing my new bright orange sweater again!
#92 – Channeling the color black – Channeling black was the most challenging color for me. I wore the color, started to film my video for the day, and then I lost momentum. The next day, I did the same thing. The third day, I let myself just get through making the video without pushing too hard to be creative or funny. I found that when I wore black, I wanted to hide. Black for me has been a color of protection – it makes me feel invisible in a way. It’s powerful in its protection, but for filming a video where I have to do the opposite of hide, I found it’s not ideal. I choose black for flattering my body in leggings and a little black dress, for keeping me warm and drawing the sunlight to me (all of my winter clothes, including jacket, hat, mittens, and scarf are black), for discretion. Wearing black is like wearing the night sky – it’s beautiful and powerful magick when that is what you need.
#93 – Channeling the color green – I saved green for last. It was January in MA, and I was missing the greens of spring and summer, trying to hold out for as long as possible before I channeled this energy. I wandered out into my yard to breathe in the scent of the evergreens, and I reminded myself that green is all around us, even in the dead of winter. As I build my business, I think about the idea of lack and abundance. Being outside with the abundant green in what I had first perceived as a lack thereof helps me remember that abundance is all around, even when we might perceive a lack. It’s all how we choose to see it.
What is your favorite color? What does it feel like for you to channel this color?