My Smoke Demon
My Smoke Demon
Magickal and Spiritual Techniques to Overcome Smoking
I'm here to remind you—and myself—that none of us are immune to life's struggles. In this post, I'm opening up about one of my hardest-fought battles… smoking.
Smoking has been my demon, the one thing I could never conquer. Just like anyone else, I’ve had to face my own battles, and quitting smoking has been one of the toughest. To some that may sound silly. Some people can just quit by putting their cigarettes down and just never picking them up again. For me it’s never been that easy and I’ve conquered many things that others find extremely difficult, but with cigarettes it’s always been the one dragon I can’t face and win. Some people will never understand it. Some people will never know what addiction really is like. Not a bad habit or an indulgence… but an actual addiction.
I began smoking at 14, sneaking off school campus with my friends to light up in hidden corners, a chainsmoking goth kid who found solace in the shadows. Smoking felt like rebellion, a secret initiation into a world beyond the grasp of authority. By 15, it had spiraled into a full-blown addiction, with cigarettes becoming a constant companion. What started as a social ritual, shared with like-minded souls in dimly lit corners, slowly turned into an isolating habit. The scent of tobacco clung to everything I owned, marking me as someone who had succumbed to the pull of nicotine.
Smoking has always been the one constant in my life. Despite moving around the country, despite different lovers, despite friends coming and going, despite losing loved ones to death, despite different jobs—cigarettes were always there. They provided stability when everything else seemed to shift and change. In moments of uncertainty and grief, the ritual of lighting up was a familiar comfort, a small anchor in a sea of chaos.
As a spiritual teacher, there’s definitely a stigma that comes with smoking that’s much more heightened than someone not in that position. It feels incongruent to preach about willpower, mindfulness, and self-care while holding a cigarette. Yet, I know many witches, occultists, and tarot authors and teachers who chain-smoke, but won’t name names. I have no judgements about that. My choice to quit is just based on a personal decision, not self-righteousness. Some of the most famous occultists in history were chainsmokers, often grappling with other addictions as well. The contradiction is part of the human experience—a reminder that no one is immune to the struggles of the material world.
I have extremely strong willpower in every area of my life. Despite experimenting with party drugs as a teen and young adult and drinking, the only thing I could never put down and walk away from in my life is smoking. But as a witch, the last thing I want is for anything to have power over me. So I’ve quit. It’s not an easy path, and I don’t expect it to be. But breaking free from this addiction is a declaration of my autonomy, a way to reclaim the energy that cigarettes have siphoned from me for years. I choose to wield my power fully, without anything holding me back.
It's okay to use everything in your arsenal to quit—medication, patches, gum, supplements (lobelia is a great plant ally for this) or whatever works for you. Witches take holistic approaches, meaning we try to tackle a problem from every area, combining the practical with the spiritual.
These are the things I’ve been doing spiritually and magickally to assist in my quiting, and you or someone else trying to quit may also find them helpful:
Sleep and Hydration: I took two days to treat the initial phase of quitting as if I had the flu—sleeping through the worst of the cravings and drinking a lot of water to flush my system of as much nicotine as possible. This allowed my body to begin the detox process while minimizing the discomfort of withdrawal.
Cleansing Rituals: Begin with a ritual bath to cleanse your aura and spirit. Add salt, mint, and hyssop to the water, focusing on the intention of purification. As you soak, visualize the addiction being washed away, leaving you renewed and fortified.
Thanking the Addiction: I’ve invoked the addiction as if it were a demon in a goetic ritual, a spirit in its own right, and have been having dialogues with it. I thank it for the times it has helped me, for the comfort it brought in dark times. Then, I let it know that it’s time to move on. By acknowledging its presence and role in your life and acknowledging how it helped you (often it’s some sort of protection or shielding in the form of coping or avoidance), you can begin to release its hold. Imagine this spirit leaving you in peace, taking with it the cravings and compulsions that have kept you bound.
Dialogue with Your Younger Self: Call upon the younger version of yourself, the aspect that first turned to smoking. Engage in a dialogue with this part of you. Ask it what it wants, and listen as it likely says it wants to smoke. Then, gently ask, “But what do you really, actually need?” This introspection can uncover deeper emotional needs that smoking has masked, allowing you to address those needs directly rather than through addiction.
Aura Cleansing Visualization: Visualize deeply embedded miasma—representing the addiction—being cleansed from your aura. Imagine it as a dark, sticky substance clinging to your energetic field. With each breath, see it dissolving, being drawn out of your body and dissipating into the ether. Feel your aura becoming lighter, clearer, and more vibrant.
Essential Oils: Use essential oils to support your quitting journey. Oils like black pepper, clary sage, and lavender can be powerful allies. Diffuse them in your space, apply them to pulse points, or add them to your ritual baths. Black pepper is particularly known for reducing nicotine cravings, while clary sage can uplift your mood and help manage stress.
Confronting Generational Patterns: Confront the generational patterns of addiction that run through both sides of your family, manifesting in different forms—from drugs to smoking, drinking, and sex addiction. Acknowledge that these patterns are not your destiny. Perform a ritual to break these chains, visualizing the cycle of addiction dissolving with you. Know that by confronting these patterns, you are not only freeing yourself but also offering healing to your ancestors and future generations.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want a cigarette right now, but I’m at a point where I don’t feel like I need one, and that’s huge for me—something I never thought would be possible. I’ve now gone the longest without a cigarette since I was 15 years old, and I can see a future where I feel completely normal again without smoking or constantly craving them. That future is on the horizon. If I can do this, anyone can.
Other News & Updates
🦉 Only 18 more days until my newest book, The Psychic Art of Tarot is released into the world! You can preorder it directly from Llewellyn, through Amazon, or preorder signed copies directly from me.
🦉 Check out THE CIRCLE IS podCAST hosted by Rachel True and myself! We release an episode weekly. The latest episodes include Lilith Dorsey, Theresa Reed, and Chelsea Wolfe!
🦉 Pisces Witch, co-written by myself and Ivo Dominguez, Jr. is now available. You can grab it directly from Llewellyn, through Amazon, or get signed copies directly from me.
🦉 Ivo and I were interviewed in an instagram live for Amityville Apothecary. You can watch that here.
🦉 I found some spare copies of some of my book’s foreign translations laying around and am signing & selling the limited stock I have. Check what I have left here.
🦉 I was recently interviewed by Samuel David at BiblioSophia on youtube. You can watch it here.
🦉 I was recently interviewed by Adam Sartwell for the Temple of Witchcraft podcast. You can listen here.
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