Hot Witch Summer: Magic to Feed the Inner Flame

As we stretch into the summer season, so too is our magic stretching back into its fullest, most vibrant expression. At the end of spring, our bodies linger on the border between expansion and fullness, blossoming buds and full blooms. With the arrival of summer solstice, we re-ignite the sacred flame that keeps us lit all through the dark months, and thrust our way up through the soil into glorious life. Pleasure awaits us on the other side of this earthy veil, and so does grief.

Summer marks the onset of fire season in the northern hemisphere, a time of intense loss and mourning. Crossing the border into the domain of fire requires a knack for prioritization, emotional regulation, and self-tending. What projects will you stoke during the warm months? What flames will you feed? And how will you sustain yourself as old systems, beliefs, and pattern are turned to ash? What will nourish you after the fire has passed? Now is the time to call on the spirit of fire to transmute your grief into pleasure. Like fire, grief and pleasure are cyclical, intermingling, and kaleidoscopic.

Feeding our inner fire, whether this looks like radical self-care rituals or creating art or spending leagues of time with ancestors and family, allows us to sustain ourselves as we traverse the spectrum of grief and pleasure. Ritual hearth-feeding is just one way to build resilience, deepen self-trust, and spark joy during this season of radical transformation.

A Ritual for Feeding Your Inner Fire + Transmuting Grief Into Pleasure

Working with the spirit of fire during fire season can catalyze immense growth and allow you to tap back into the full spectrum of sensation. If you struggle to move grief through your body in a pleasurable way, or feel immobilized by fire's rushing changes, stoking the well of inner fire with a hearth-feeding ritual might be exactly the sort of push you need to launch heart first back into your magic-making. This spell can be performed with a literal hearth if you have a working fireplace, but can just as easily be modified for a candle and fireproof dish!

You will need:

1. Fire (either a wood fire or candle)

2. Fire-proof dish (if you're working with a candle)

3. Paper 

4. A red pen

5. If you like, a cup of ginger tea to sip on

Begin by establishing a connection to your hearth. You can do this by visualizing your hearth space as the beating heart of your space, or simply by envisioning yourself swaddled in warm light. Spend a few moments opening yourself up to the fire you're about to ignite here—and when you're ready, ignite your flame. If you're working with a wood-burning fireplace, this process might look a little more painstaking than if you're working with a candle. No matter the tools you're working with, be gentle and intentional with your fire. Give it your fullest attention as you light it. This fire is a symbolic representation of your own inner flame, but it's a being in its own right—treat it as you would a plant or spirit ally. 

In your own time, at whatever pace feels most comfortable to you, jot down your intentions for this fire season, any grief you're alchemizing, pleasures you're ready to tap back into, or whatever else is coming up for you in relationship to your inner fire. One by one, feed these scraps of paper for your fire, and as you do, visualize the energies you're working with begin to shift in whatever way they need to. If you're feeding your fire with feelings of doubt that you're ready to release, allow the fire to compost these feelings and return them back to you as little phoenixes of self-trust. If you're feeding your fire with grand, expansive dreams of a summer season you're in love with, trust that the fire will transmute these dreams and speed them onward into material form. 

When you've fed your fire as much as you have to offer, let your fire burn itself out if you can. If you're working with a candle, feel free to extinguish this flame. Never leave a candle burning by itself, babe! Your magical intentions won't be marred by fire safety. When you're ready to close your ritual and leave the space, thank your hearth fire for helping you to make the shifts you need in order to welcome movement, spark, and life back into your intentions, and if you're feeling up for it, leave an offering for the spirit of fire—a little bit of your favorite oil smeared on your hearth or candle should do it.