Take your meds!- a witchy perspective.

As someone who has seen both sides of the tracks when it comes to mental and physical health, I repeatedly come across these sorts of questions in the many witchcraft or spiritually related groups on social media. People always want to know an herbal remedy or spell that will fix what ails them. While the thought behind it is admirable, I also have a huge problem with this sort of mindset.

Magick is supposed to be a tool for manipulating energy to bring about change. Generally the goal for this change is positive, though I won't speak for everyone.

Herbal magick and remedies are slow magick, sometimes making the problem worse before it gets better, and is meant to go along with a supported life style of self care and applied herbalism. Its a goal that's beautiful, but not always feasible. Sometimes, you need something quicker. Sometimes you need something to help get you to a place of balance where you can be receptive to the kinds of magickal workings that are helpful to you, and have the desired effect on your life.

If you are ill, you're not playing with a full deck which is unfair to you, and definitely has an effect on your ritual work. Getting your mind, body, and spirit all on the same page before you undertake any sort of magick work is imperative in getting the result you want. Let me give you an example.

The witch in this scenario struggles with depression. She frequently does ritual work regarding abundance but seems to be stuck in a rut, never quite achieving the results she is looking for monetarily. Depression can feed a scarcity mindset, which can make even the most powerful money rituals go wonky. After all, if you don't believe you are actually worthy of receiving the money you ask for, chances are you won't see the opportunities offered to you that will enable the success of your goal.

  Magick is duality. Its spiritual and physical. If you aren't doing the leg work, you'll never get anywhere with your spells. Treating the depression becomes imperative to break the cycle. Its crucial to set yourself up to think clearly, and receive clearly. If depression is fogging your brain, you will not be able to cast a spell with any sort of clarity, and without clarity your results will be muddled and you may be left feeling like nothing ever works, and in turn, magick doesn't work.

Let me give you another example.

The witch in this scenario suffers from fibromyalgia, and battles pain daily. Without modern medication, she may never have the energy to perform any sort of ritual works. Spells can often leave the practitioner feeling drained, depending on how in depth the ritual is. Chronically ill witches will have to carefully weigh their ritual work with their every day living, as they have a finite amount of energy to spare. Without the help of modern medicine to manage this pain, chances are they will never feel like they are in a place to do any sort of spiritual work that won't drain them completely, and may have questionable results.

Whether its a chronic illness or mental illness, all of these things are very personal and hard to talk about. Every situation is different. But there is no such thing as a miracle cure, from either side.
What you will find is that the two can be complimentary if done properly, and researched well.
That means adding herbal remedies to your routine, perhaps in conjunction with modern day medication, but only after consulting with a doctor to ensure there are no issues with the substances interacting. There are so many other ways to work with herbs besides ingesting them!

Using modern medicine is crucial to our development as witches. Its crucial to make the starting point for our magick and even as possible to give us the best chance at achieving the results we desire. That means treating as close to the base of the root cause as we can get, and as quickly as possible. Medication often is the best choice for this. I, myself, have been on anti depressants and anti psychotics until I was in a place to maintain my mental health on my own. Now I use herbs as a long term, gentle support for myself, but I would not hesitate to get back on medication if I sank back down to a point where I needed that kind of help.

There is no shame in fixing things in the mundane and working back to the spiritual. Take care of yourself in the real world so that you can continue the healing process and work towards your spiritual health, and I guarantee this will yield much better results in your magick work. So remember witches, take your meds! Your magick will thank you