For many witches, Samhain marks the traditional New Year—a time to honour the dead, reflect on endings, and prepare for a new spiritual cycle.
However, the start of the calendar year in January offers another kind of energy.
It’s a time when the collective consciousness is focused on fresh starts, resolutions, and renewal, making it a powerful period to align your magical practice with the season’s energy.
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Whether you follow the Wheel of the Year closely or are simply looking for inspiration, these 20 witchy activities, tasks and rituals will help you make the absolute most of January’s unique magic!
1. Cleanse and reset your space
The beginning of the year is an ideal time to cleanse your space of old, stagnant energy.
Use smoke cleansing with herbs like sage, cedar, or rosemary; sound cleansing with bells or chimes; or salt sprinkled in corners to absorb negativity.
This will create a clean energetic foundation for the months ahead.
2. Set intentions for the year
Intentions are the seeds of your magick.
Write down your goals and aspirations for the year, focusing on areas where you want growth. Incorporate this into your grimoire or take it even further and create a vision board filled with inspiring images, symbols, and affirmations.
I love to start a new witch’s journal each year – something that feels beautiful to hold and inspiring work with.
These are my top pics for a 2026 witch’s journal:
3. Perform a New Year Ritual
Welcome the energy of the new year by crafting a ritual that aligns with your goals.
Light a white or yellow beeswax candle – these are gorgeous – use herbs or crystals that symbolise fresh starts, and spend some time meditating on the changes you wish to manifest.
Take a look at these rituals for inspiration:
4. Update your altar
If you dedicated your December altar to Yule, then this is your opportunity to revamp and refresh it to reflect the late winter season.
Use elements like evergreen branches, seeds, bones and candles in shades of white, blue, or silver.
Light your candles and speak a blessing for the turning of the Wheel:
“Flame of dawn, awaken me new,
Melt the frost and clear the view.
From stillness, let my hopes arise,
Warmth return beneath these skies”.
5. Cast a Protection Spell with Black Salt, Obsidian, and Herbs
As you enter a new year, fortifying your magickal and personal boundaries is a wise magickal move.
First, prepare your space. Find a quiet spot. Take a few deep breaths to center yourself.
Set your intention. Say clearly (aloud or silently):“I create this space for safety, calm, and protection.”
Lay out your materials. Place a snowflake obsidian pillar – this one is perfect before you, and sprinkle a small circle of black salt around it. Add a pinch of basil and bay leaf inside the circle.
Focus your energy. Hold your hand over the circle and imagine a strong, steady light surrounding you, dark like midnight but warm like ember.
Seal the charm. Say: “What harms shall pass me by, what’s good shall dwell within.
Bound by earth, herb, and stone, my peace begins again.”
Close the ritual. Sit quietly for a moment, then sweep the salt and herbs into a small bowl or pouch to keep near your doorway or altar.
6. Celebrate the Full Wolf Moon
January’s full moon, often called the Wolf Moon, is a time to honour protection, strength, and community. Spend the evening meditating, performing a moon ritual, or working with the energy of wolves to connect with your inner resilience.
Also read: 10 Magickal Moon Rituals for January’s Full Wolf Moon
Totally in love with wolves? You might like:
7. Cast snow magic
If you live in a snowy climate, embrace this unique seasonal element!
Use snow in spells for purification or collect it in jars for future use in magical workings. You can also draw sigils in the snow for manifestation.
8. Declutter your Magical Tools
Take time to organize and cleanse your magical tools. Wash crystals, dust off your tarot decks, and ensure your herbs and oils are fresh.
Some witches like to wait until Spring to cleanse and clear their craft instruments, but why not do it now?
Having a clearout now will ensure your tools are alive and ready when the influx of new energy arrives in a month or two.
9. Work with evergreen plants
Evergreens symbolise resilience and growth in the heart of winter. Decorate your space with pine, holly, or cedar, or use them in spellwork for endurance and protection. Here are a few more suggestions –
Create evergreen charms: Bind sprigs of pine, cedar, or holly with twine to make charms for protection, vitality, and warding off negativity.
Burn evergreen incense: Burn dried needles or resin, like pine or cedar for cleansing, and focus.
Craft a winter wreath: Wreaths aren’t only for Yule! Make a wreath with evergreen branches and magical additions like cinnamon or mint to bring seasonal energy to your space.
Use evergreens in spells: Add evergreen needles to spells for resilience, protection, or endurance, such as in charm bags or spell jars.
Prepare an evergreen infusion: Steep pine needles in water for a cleansing tea to use in rituals or safe consumption for energy and renewal.
Meditate with evergreen energy: Sit with an evergreen branch or beneath a tree to draw strength and persistence from its enduring nature.
10. Journal your dreams
The long winter nights are perfect for dreamwork.
Set intentions before falling asleep for clarity around a particular situation in your life. Keep a journal by your bed to record your dreams and take time to explore any recurring symbols or messages.
Here are our top pics for dream interpretation –
11. Prepare for Imbolc
Imbolc is the first sabbat after winter solstice, and is traditionally celebrated on February 1 or 2. It marks the return of light and the first inklings of new beginnings. January is the perfect time to gather supplies, plan rituals, and set intentions for this sabbat.
Plan your Imbolc by reading these articles:
12. Explore candle magick
Winter’s dark evenings create the perfect atmosphere for candle magic. This means you can dive deep into this beautiful aspect of witchcraft, and spend some real time devoted to learning.
Light candles in colours that match your intentions, and keep a detailed record of your spells and their outcomes.
Read about candle magick here: Your Complete Guide to Colour Meanings in Candle Magick
Need supplies? Try –
13. Create a self-love spell jar
Winter is the ideal time to cocoon and focus on feeling good from the inside out.
Combine herbs, crystals, and affirmations that encourage self-love and personal well-being into a spell jar, and keep it on your altar or bedside table.
Supplies to choose from:
- 30ml glass jars
- 20ml glass jars with screw eyes (great for hanging charms)
- Rose quartz chips – to radiate love, compassion, and emotional healing energy.
- Tiny rose quartz hearts
- Sun-dried rose petals and buds – to enhance the energy of self-acceptance.
- Anima Mundi rose petal power (Soooo beautiful and potent to use in spells, including tea and rose milk!)
- Organic lavender essential oil
- Dried French lavender flowers – to promote peace, relaxation, and self-nurturing.
- Pink Himalayan salt for purification and self-care, helping to release negativity and invite love (also add these to your ritual bath for a total detox!)
- 100 cinnamon sticks – crumble to add warmth, confidence, and a boost of self-esteem to your spell.
- Organic cinnamon essential oil
- Organic german dried chamomile flowers to encourage inner peace, balance, and self-soothing energy.
- Gya Labs organic roman chamomile essential oil (I LOVE this brand)
- A written affirmation: Write a personal affirmation like, “I am worthy of love and kindness,” and place it in the jar.
- Organic dark amber wildflower honey – for sweetness and to attract gentle, loving energy into your life.
- Or Local Hive honey (squeezy bottles make both of these an easy choice)
- Crushed mirror glass – for self-reflection and the ability to see your own worth.
- Red satin ribbon – wrap it around the jar to seal in love, passion, and devotion to yourself.
- Or use this 1/8 inch dusty rose velvet ribbon (my favourite)
14. Study a new divination tool
January’s introspective energy makes it an ideal time to expand your divination practice.
You could learn to use runes, tea leaves, a black mirror (my fave!) or pendulums, and explore how these tools can enhance your magical work.
Choose one tool and see if you can create a daily or weekly practice with it. Keep written notes of your intentions, your findings and your state of mind.
Try these tools –
15. Work with winter deities
Honour deities associated with winter, wisdom, or transformation.
The Dark Goddesses are present at this time of year when it’s bleak and cold, and the ideal time to forge connections. Consider offerings to Hecate for guidance through transitions, or the Cailleach for strength and resilience, during the cold months.
16. Make herbal blends for winter ailments
Craft teas, sachets, or balms using herbs like echinacea, elderberry, or peppermint to protect against winter colds. These blends not only support your health but also bring a touch of magic to everyday life.
If you didn’t manage to harvest any, get organic dried elderberries here and make an immune boosting elixir.
17. Practice grounding techniques
In winter can feel disconnected from the earth, wrapped up in many layers and spending more time indoors that we may like. So grounding can be even more important.
Meditate with a grounding stone like hematite, or perform a grounding ritual using soil or pinecones to reconnect with nature.
18. Create a financial prosperity spell
January is the perfect time to focus on abundance for the year ahead.
Use green spell candles, coins, and herbs like cinnamon or basil to cast a prosperity spell and attract financial stability for 2026.
19. Honor the element of water
Water symbolises renewal, healing, and adaptability. Work with water by taking a ritual bath, practising water scrying, or meditating on the emotional flow of your life.
(Bonus points for taking a ritual bath under the full wolf moon!)
Read these posts for water magick inspiration:
20. Plan your magical calendar
Set aside time to organize your magical practice for the year.
Note the full moons, sabbats, and personal milestones you want to honour, and outline your plans for rituals, spellwork, and study.
There are some gorgeous witch’s calendars to make this a whole lot easier – less time spent on figuring out the dates, and more on planning your magick!
Our favourite 2026 witches calendars –
By embracing practices that flow WITH these energies, you can cleanse old energy, set meaningful intentions, and deepen your connection to the rhythms of the season.
Whether you’re working with candles on a cold, dark evening, honouring Hecate at a crossroads, or dreaming of spring, each of these activities helps weave magic into your everyday life.
Here’s to a magical and fulfilling year ahead!
