Everyone has a birthday including witches, but how should we go about celebrating that? There are so many different traditions to include and remember just based on your ethnic and national backgrounds. Lets not forget how milestone birthdays are seen as something to go all out for. (Depending on the religion as there are some that do not participate in birthday celebrations. For them celebrating or worshiping anything other then God is a sin). There’s also something else you have to consider, how important are birthdays even to you? Are they worth the effort that you put into them?

There are certain types of workings or spells that are best if only done once a year. Doing the same ritual every year can serve as a boost from the previous year. It also renews the ritual for the year ahead. These kinds of rituals are best done on your birthday as that is your personal day of power. Just because you’re doing the same spell every year doesn’t mean you have to do it the same exact way. There’s nothing wrong with switching out herbs or candle colors to fit your current needs. You just want to maintain the same process. Even if you build upon it, you gain new skills and knowledge.

For the Parents

As a parent of a minor you have spiritual authority over your child as well, take advantage of that. Every year for my daughter’s birthday I do a spell that I call ‘For Your Wishes’. It is a spell specifically designed for me. I take my motherly love and pour it into my daughter for another year. It is extremely simple to do.

This spell is best done if you start it a week before the child’s birthday. I start with a 7-Day candle, and I cleanse it according to my traditions. I generally like to pick a candle color that correlates with her zodiac. However you can do it based on the child’s favorite color or even the color that reminds you of them. The next thing that I do is gather my herbs. I select my herbs based on what I’m hoping to bring them this year. If she struggled in academics I will be looking for herbs that correlate with wisdom and growth. The number of herbs that I choose is based on intuition. I grab what I feel is right. However, going based on your child’s age, their zodiac, or their favorite number would not be wrong either.  As a parent, you’re using your intuition daily to guide and raise your children. Your candle will reflect this intuition. I blow tobacco smoke on my herbs before using them. This is my thanks. It is also a way to feed them some ashe. But for you my advice would be to just follow your intuition and do what you feel is right. I dressed the candle according to my intuition. I carve my child’s name and date of birth on the candle as well. Sometimes I write a petition that correlates with what I’m hoping that they would receive this year. By burning this candle 7 days ahead of time the spell will finish on her birthday.

My Birthday Ritual

Since I do the other spell behind the scenes my daughter gets two birthday rituals a year. The second one that she does is the same one that I do myself personally each year. The only difference is that now she can choose a desire she wants to manifest. She can then build upon it. 

The one that my daughter and I do specifically is part of a closed practice. I have an alternative that you can do. You should create this spell or this ritual in advance. It may take you a little bit of time to do your own research. The first step is to have a sigil or a symbol. This should correlate with either birthdays, birth, or a yearly cycle. I would even recommend something that is used for Fresh Starts or New Beginnings.

The next thing that I do is determine the number of candles that I want to use. This is something that I do based on intuition. Sometimes we use our favorite numbers. Others we use a number that correlates with our zodiac. Even at times we just use a number that speaks to us. I also do the same thing with determining the candle colors. Having a rainbow of colors wouldn’t be wrong, just carve your intention for that candle on it. Now from there it’s completely up to you. What it is that you want to do? Some years we dress our candles in herbs other years we don’t. If it is a year that we are not dressing our candles in the herbs, we skip using them entirely.

The birthday person gets to write their own petition. It always hits different when the intention is your own, to me. It is then either burned or placed underneath the candle that is supposed to represent them. One thing we do is to light the candles exactly at the time of our birth. If you don’t just do it at the high point of the day. The high point of the day can be noon, it can be when you are at your happiest. Pick your own high point.

Beginner witches, please make sure your home or space is cleansed. Protect it before doing any work. Seasoned witches probably already know this. There are trickster spirits, evil eyes, and other just bad energies that you may not know are lurking around. We are wanting to bring in a positive year not a negative one. Let’s not give anyone or anything the opportunity to mess us up. A powerful way to prevent tampering with your spell is by keeping it secret. No one needs to know when you are doing it or what your intention is for the year.

Birthday Tradition Ideas

There are plenty of other birthday traditions that you can include and that I would highly recommend. I like to do a second yearly reading on birthdays, the first obviously being on New Year’s. This reading is specifically to figure out what that year is going to be like for you. For example, if you are turning 30, focus your reading on what turning 30 looks like for you. Life lessons you will learn. Steps you should take. As to where a yearly reading tells you things month by month.

You can turn to astrology to figure out what this year looks like for you. This is especially helpful if you are interested or have any knowledge in that area. Reviewing your birth chart is always going to be a great idea even outside of it just being your birthday. Seeing how the current stars’ alignment affects your star placements can shed some light. If you have any altars, thank the spirits you tend to for the past year. Express gratitude for the year to come. Also, give them a slice of birthday cake or something and let them celebrate with you. 

Another great idea is to go ahead and do some general housekeeping. Get rid of stagnant energy in your home. Call back your power. Let go of anything that doesn’t serve you. I like to treat my birthday as if it is the new year. It is a time for me to start my year off correctly. Smoke your house out, we want to focus our intention on having the best year possible. I smoke my house out with whatever I want to call in. Peace? Burn lavender. Luck? Burn bay leaves.

Let’s also go ahead and do some journaling. It’s not shadow work because a lot of people have a negative connotation with that. We won’t be able to get things done without letting our brains get away. Let’s let our journal prompt today be birthday related, ask yourself what does birthdays mean to me? What birthday traditions do I love and that I would want to pass down? What is something that I want to give to me this birthday? This prompt is solely focused on you and your celebration. Many people have big parties for their birthdays. They do these things just because they think they have to. Its your birthday if you don’t want to do anything besides sit in the house and read a book. Then read that book, honor that. If you want to go all out for your birthday, do it. Even if people think you are doing too much, honor what feels right to you. Then they aren’t doing enough, honor that. Just take this time to sit and reflect. Think about what your birthday means to you. 

If you had a difficult year I would implore you to do a releasing ceremony this year. Don’t drag it out another year. This can be done anytime of year. However, I find beauty in letting something die on the day of your birth. Even if it is a little bit morbid. Now however you choose to do the releasing ceremony let it be something that is unique to you. Burn Bowl rituals are one of my favorites. I love the heat of the fire. I can just imagine it cleansing my soul. The heat of its flames burns all of my worries away.