Magical Rituals without Tools

I’ve been too strict with myself throughout my witching career. I convinced myself that rituals are most effective with a ton of preparation and picking just the right tools. While magic certainly works this way, it can also work if I perform them spontaneously. This year, I’m focusing more on spontaneous, simple rituals performed with little or no tools, that are still effective in their own right.

To clarify, when I say “no tools”, I’m talking about a situation where you wish to perform a ritual but have none of your witchy supplies on you (divination sets, magical herbs, candles, instructions etc.). In most cases, you may be outside or traveling. Say you went to the beach, or a park, or cemetery, and wish to honor the spirits or cast a spell. How would you do so?
Recently I’ve been brainstorming these methods using outdoor rituals I’ve performed in the past as reference. As a disclaimer, these correspondences (for lack of a better term) are highly personal to me. Since these rituals are usually spontaneous, you’ll have permission to alter the significance of these as you see fit.

Gestures 

• Hands on the ground can ground you, stabilize your energy, and focus on your energy mingling with the energy of the earth.
• Raising your hands towards the sky helps you harness and absorb energy from the sky, and celestial powers. You can also just face your palms towards the sky if you want to remain inconspicuous.
• Pointing is a powerful gestures used to direct energy. If you want to charge an object, for instance, you can point at it or tap it. 
• Your palms facing away from your body can act as a protective gesture, cutting you off from outside forces. You can also sweep your hands across areas to isolate them, brushing unwanted energies away from the space.
• Your palm pressed to the ground or an object directs energy into it. Not only can this ground you, but it releases a lot of energy, activating a spell. You can also raise your own energy by pressing your hand to your heart, or even hugging yourself. 
• Grabbing helps you pull in and trap energies.
• In the same vein, opening your hand releases energy.
• Extending your hand, as if to give a handshake, is a welcoming gesture that invites forces to come to you. This signals to spirits that you welcome them, and that you request to work with them.
• Sitting still allows you to listen and meditate. If you want to hear a response or a sign, it is best to remain still.
• Dancing releases energy and raises the vibration of the energies around you. You can collapse to the ground when the energy has reached its peak, and needs to be released.
• Breathing techniques are a staple in magic, but since I’ve already made a post about them, I’ll link that post here.

Music / Sounds

• Certain words and sayings hold great power when stated and chanted. I won’t list any because there are too many to count, but memorizing a hymn or repeating whatever persists in your mind can have great effects.
• Similarly, singing raises the power of these words. It can be used to conjure, harness and build energy, sanctify and invite.
• Clapping, or otherwise banging objects together, creates a lot of energy. This can cleanse ritual spaces, raise power, and release power.
• Whistling and humming helps you resonate with the energies around you. It can also help you attain a meditative state, and attract spirits.
• Silence allows you to listen and inspect.

Handling the Ground (Such as Dirt or Sand)

• Drawing or marking a circlegives you a designated ritual area. Although this isn’t necessary, I find it useful to mark an area that I can raise energies in. You can draw it in the dirt or sand, or mark the area with stones, flowers, leaves or sticks.
• Drawing symbols in the dirt can drastically change the energy of a ritual area. It can be part of a spell or an offering. Hearts, sigils, words and phrases–your options are flexible here.
• Burying objects releases it from your control and your sight. This can be done for offerings, banishings, and letting go spells.
• Sticking objects into the dirt or sand allows the object to absorb the earth’s energy, without being entirely released from your control.

~ Concerning Objects Available to You ~

If you’re performing a ritual outside, chances are you have some natural items available to handle, such as stones, grass, leaves and perhaps water. What you do with these objects depends on the purpose of your ritual. Rituals without tools tend to be spontaneous, meaning that you’ll have to determine the use of each object on the spot. 

If you’re conducting a ritual with no tools, that most likely means that you won’t have a grimoire or correspondence list with you. You’ll have to use what you know about that object, and what you feel is best by speaking to it. In fact, I almost didn’t include this section because unprepared rituals are so uniquely you that I cannot instruct them.

I’ll list some things I’ve done in the past as examples. But remember that your intuition will guide you the most. When it’s your turn, you won’t have this post to guide your actions.

• Stones stabilize energies and provide a focal point. I’ve place stones in the middle of my ritual circle as a centerpiece. I’ve also held them to ground myself and meditate. You can also make noise and music by banging said stones.
• Leaves have multiple uses, but I often use them as energy directors. They can outline a ritual circle, be used to make symbols, and point to objects. They can also be infused with energy, and then crumpled, buried or ripped.
• Sticks direct energy, similar to wands. They can draw symbols, mark circles or outlines, or funnel energy into a specific point.
• Water cleanses, blesses, and invigorates with life. Use on yourself or your makeshift ‘tools’.
• Wind cleanses, releases, and sweeps away energies, whereas celestial bodies such as the sun and moon charge things with energy.

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I won’t include anymore, because these kinds of rituals rely on your good judgement. But hopefully this gave you some ideas on what you can do if you’re ever out somewhere without your tools.