Camping is also a fun way to introduce friends and family members to aspects of witchcraft because many typical camping activities can easily be made magical if you put the right intention behind them. If you’re looking for new ways to add magic to your next camping trip, here are eight ways to have the witchiest camping trip ever!

Choosing A Location

When you’re choosing a location to set up camp, you might want to make sure it is an energetically appealing spot. There are many magical ways you can select a campsite, but here are a few simple ways to go about it. 

Numerology Method

Some places require you to register for a site beforehand. Other campgrounds will let you pick a site once you arrive. Either way, you can use numerology to select the perfect campsite for your trip because many campgrounds number the different spaces.

To do this, you can go by the traditional meanings and associations in numerology. For example, repeating numbers are thought to hold power. Repeating two’s are sometimes associated with relationships and love. Repeating three’s can be a sign that your guides are with you. 

Each card of the tarot’s major arcana also has a numerical association. Consider picking a campsite that corresponds with your favorite major arcana tarot card.

Another way to use numerology to pick a site is to choose a number that holds personal meaning to you. Think about the birth dates or birth times of the people who are going on the camping trip. If you’re camping with your beloved, you can pick a number that corresponds with your anniversary. 

Above all, use your intuition when picking a number. If for some unknown reason you feel drawn to a certain number, use it.

Pendulum Method

If you don’t have to reserve a campsite, you can spend a couple of minutes walking around the different areas, tuning into the energy you feel. Pick the area that feels the most compatible with you. A pendulum can help you with this. Hold the chain of the pendulum between your index and thumb and allow the pendulum to dangle over the pinky-finger-side of your hand. Hold your hand out, as steady as possible, and lift the pendulum with your other hand. Ask a yes or no questions such as “Should I camp here tonight?” as you drop the pendulum. Notice the movements of the pendulum to get your answer. 

Variation: Tarot Divination Method

Tarot cards can also help you select a place to camp. When you’re walking around the different camping spots, carry your deck of tarot cards. Shuffle them and ask an open-ended question like “What can I expect to experience if I camp here?” or “What energy does this place hold?”. If the card reveals a favorable answer, you’ve found your campsite!

Setting Up Camp

Tent Sigil Spell

Create a sigil and draw it on the ground with a stick where you plan to set up your tent. This sigil can be for any sort of intention such as a protective sigil, a sigil that encourages fun, or a sigil that enhances your psychic connection through dreams. Whatever you’d like to experience during your trip, create a sigil to support that desire. If you’re not familiar with sigil magic, write a word or draw a symbol on the ground under your tent that embodies your desired experience.

Protective Tent Stake Spell 

Before your trip, place a handful of sea salt in your bag of tent stakes. Let the salt charge your tent stakes with protective qualities for at least a few hours before you use them. 

When you’re setting up your tent, hold the stakes in your hands and take a moment to visualize having safe, peaceful nights in your tent. If you find yourself worrying about any safety issues as you’re doing this, gently guide your mind back to your vision of safe, peaceful nights. When you’ve fully immersed yourself in that feeling, place the stakes in the ground. As you do this, move energy from your body, through the stake, and into the ground. Thank the earth for co-creating this protective magic with you. Do this with each stake and move in a counterclockwise rotation (mimicking the direction of the earth’s rotation). When you’re ready to take down the tent and end your protective spell, visualize the energy you sent into the earth moving back up the stake and into your body as you pull out each stake. Do this starting with the last stake you put in and move in a clockwise direction. 

Magical Camping Activities

After you’ve used witchcraft to pick a campsite and set up your tent, you can do all kinds of witchy activities on your trip. 

Elemental Nature Altar

Spend a few hours hiking and see if you can find at least one object to represent each of the four elements—earth, water, fire, and air. If the laws in your area permit, bring these objects back to your campsite and create an elemental nature altar. 

Position the objects according to their corresponding directions on your altar (earth to the north, water to the west, fire to the south, air to the east). Use the altar for magic while you’re camping. A simple way to do this is to draw a sigil, symbol or word that represents your intention in the center of the altar. Do this with your finger, a wand, a stick, or a crystal. 

Collecting Dirt For Spells

Dirt is a powerful and often-underestimated magical tool. It can be used for protection spells, elemental spells, or banishing spells, just to name a few. Dirt is extremely versatile because it can take on the qualities of the place it was collected from. It can also be charged with certain magical intentions. When you’re out camping, you’ll come into contact with a-whole-lotta dirt. That makes camping an ideal time for collecting dirt to use for your future spells. 

Under Your Tent

The dirt underneath your tent will most likely absorb some of your energy because that’s the place where you’ll spend hours sleeping. For best results, wait until the very end of your trip to collect the dirt from under your tent. That way, the energy that you’ve left on the dirt will be the strongest. 

When you do this, I recommend putting a few handfuls of dirt into a mason jar or drawstring bag and taking a few minutes to jot down notes about the dirt and its properties. Journal about any dreams you had while sleeping over the dirt. If you shared a tent with others, make a note of that. What did you talk about while in your tent? What experiences did you have in that tent? What was your mood or the mood of your companions? Record all of that information on a piece of paper. Then fold up the paper and place it in the jar or bag with the dirt. You can also label the container with a word that you feel describes the overall energy of the dirt. For example, if you shared a tent with your best friends, you might label that dirt with the energy of “friendship”, “love”, “fun”, or “relaxation”. You might use that dirt in relationship or self-love spells in the future. 

In Other Areas

While you’re exploring the area around your campsite, notice the different kinds of dirt. Look at the colors, textures, and the places the dirt came from. Dirt that you gathered from the top of a mountain will have different uses than the dirt you collect from the bottom of a lake.

You might want to bring several containers for different dirt samples. Just as with the dirt you got from under your tent, spend some time journaling about the different thoughts, feelings, or images that come up for you as you examine the dirt and hold it in your hands. 

Lunar Lake Scrying

If you have access to a lake, pond, or any still body of water, you can use it to scry. This is perfect to do under the full moon because that phase is associated with heightened divination energy and it also provides the maximum amount of light. To do this, sit near the water and gaze at the surface. Allow your eyes to become unfocused and visualize any tension draining out of your body. When you feel pretty relaxed, you can set the intention to receive messages through the water’s surface. These messages can be sent from anyone or anything—such as your intuition, your spirit guides, the spirit of a loved one, the moon, your higher power, or your personal deities. The messages can come from images, shapes or symbols you see when the moonlight is reflected in the water. You might also notice thoughts or images appearing in your mind’s eye. It’s also helpful to identify and acknowledge any feelings you experience as you scry. These are all ways you might receive messages. If you don’t pick up any messages or you don’t understand the messages you receive, don’t worry about it! If this happens, jot down anything you noticed in your journal or grimoire. Read over your notes the next day or the next week to see if the messages are any clearer. 

Intention-Setting Leaf Spell

Collect a few leaves that catch your eye while you’re out hiking. Write a desire or intention on each leaf with a marker or even trace it with your finger. Release the leaves by allowing them to float away in a body of water, be carried away on the wind, or throwing them off a ledge. As you do this, visualize your intention being released up into the universe. This will activate your spell. Look for signs that your intention is manifesting in the following days, weeks or months. 

If you’d like to make this into a banishing spell, write a word or draw a symbol that represents the person, thing, or energy you’d like to banish from your experience. Release the leaf by burning it in your campfire or burying them. This spell is best performed during the waning moon phase. 

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Updated on August 20, 2023 by Avery Hart