Seven Ways to Use Beach Magic

One of the most popular summer pastimes in the world is the journey to the beach. For some people, it’s an annual event, in which you load a carload of kids and sand toys into your car, everyone drinks too much beer and the whole family comes home sunburned and cranky.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

The beach can often be a magical and spiritual place. Think about it – it’s a spot where all four of the elements converge: the water of the ocean crashes upon the shore. The sand is warm and dry beneath your feet. The wind blows in off the coast, and the fire of the sun blazes down upon you. It’s sort of a combo platter of all sorts of magical goodness, right there waiting for you. Why not take advantage of it?

Here are seven ways you can benefit from the magic of the beach:

Before the crowds arrive, when the morning is still new, go for a walk on the sand at sunrise. Take a small bottle or bag with you, fill it with sand, and bring it back home for magical workings that incorporate all four elements. Do the same with a bottle of ocean water. You can also use your bag of sand to cast a circle once you get back home, or as a substitute for graveyard dirt in magical workings.

Gather seashells to bring home with you. Seashells are associated with protection, particularly of the home – after all, a seashell is basically a protective, portable house for some lucky little crustacean. Take them home and position them around your property, or use them to create a protective amulet for your pets or vehicles. Seashells are also a symbol of the love goddess, Aphrodite, so use them in workings related to love and passion.

Got someone negative in your life that you’d like to banish? Write the person’s name in the sand near the water line, and then let the tide wash it away.

In many magical traditions, nine is a sacred number. If there’s something you need to be rid of, write it on a stick or piece of driftwood, or write it in the sand, and then scoop it up in a handful. Focus your intent for the count nine waves, and on the last one, throw the wood into the ocean as far as you can, letting the waves take your problems far out to sea.

Use seashells or bits of driftwood for divination. You can use the suggestions at Stone Divination for ideas on which symbols to draw or paint on your stones or wood.

You can use the ocean’s gifts to make a protective Witch Bottle. Unlike traditional witch bottles that contain urine or vinegar, along with sharp pointy objects like razors and rusty nails, use things you find on the beach. Gather sharp bits of shells, poky pieces of coral, stray shark teeth, broken beach glass, and other bits of detritus that have washed up on shore. Fill the bottle with sand and sea water, and use it to protect against psychic attack.

Does your favorite beach have a lighthouse? A lighthouse is designed specifically to guide sailors in from sea. If you’re in need of guidance, and need a beacon to direct you back into the right navigational waters, try doing a meditation that focuses on the lighthouse. Depending on whether it’s accessible to the public or not, you may wish to sit at its base, or even circle it a few times as you meditate. If you can’t get to it, don’t worry – find a quiet place on the beach to sit, keeping the lighthouse in view, and imagine that beacon of light guiding you home.

Important Note: In a few places, it is considered extremely bad luck – as well as disrespectful – to remove items from a beach. In particular, Hawaiian legend says that visitors who take lava rocks home from the island will encounter all sorts of misfortunes. If you have questions about whether taking items home is acceptable, please check with a local and be sure to respect their customs.