Letting go spell for beginners

Some endings are chosen and some are not: leaving a job, finishing school, moving out, the end of a role you held for years. A letting go spell does not make an ending painless, but it gives it a shape. You mark what was, say goodbye on purpose and turn toward what comes next.

Before you start. Spells on this site work on you: your attention, your habits and your courage. They never bind, harm or decide for another person, and they do not replace practical help. Pair this spell with one ordinary action, and the action becomes the spell’s other half.

Purpose

To mark the end of a chapter in life, such as leaving a job, finishing school, moving out, or the end of a role, and to step into the next.

Modern Many witches pair this spell with the moon: the ending on a waning moon, and the first step of the new chapter at the next new moon. If you do not want to wait, do both parts on the same evening.

Best timing (optional). A waning moon for the ending, followed by a new moon for the beginning. Timing is a modern correspondence, not a rule. The right time is the time you will actually do it.

You need

• A notebook
• A small object that represents the chapter (an ID badge, a key, a ticket, a photo)
• A box or envelope

Steps

This is my version of closing a chapter.

1. Write a short account of the chapter: when it began, what it gave you, what was hard, what you learned.
2. Hold the object. Thank it for what it represented.
3. Speak the words.
4. Put the object in the box or envelope and seal it. Write the dates on the outside.
5. Turn to a fresh page and write one sentence about what you hope the next chapter will hold.

Words (modern). “This page closes. I thank it for what it gave me. I carry its lessons forward and turn the page.”

Closing. Store the box somewhere you will not see it every day. Return any keys or badges you must give back.

Aftercare

Be gentle with yourself for a few days afterward. Endings can bring up grief even when they are good. Eat well, go outside, tell a friend you did this. At the next new moon, write one small intention for the new chapter, or use the new moon ritual.

Record. What did I learn from this page? What do I hope for next? If you keep a Book of Shadows, write the date, what you did and what happened next. After a few weeks, your own notes will tell you more than any list of correspondences.

Safety

None beyond ordinary care.

If an ending involves abuse, danger or overwhelming grief, please talk to a doctor, counselor or crisis line. In an emergency, call your local emergency number (112 in Europe, 911 in the US and Canada).

Variations

No-tools version

Write the last line of the chapter and the first line of the next.

A healthy ending

To release a relationship that has ended, so that you can heal and move on. This spell works on your own feelings only; it does not bind or affect the other person.

You need.

• A length of string or yarn
• Scissors
• Paper and a pen

1. On the paper, write what you are grateful for from the relationship, and what you are ready to let go of.
2. Tie a loose knot in the middle of the string. Hold one end in each hand. The knot represents your attachment.
3. Speak the words.
4. Untie the knot slowly, or, if you prefer a firmer ending, cut the string at the knot.
5. Let the pieces fall.

Words (modern). “I thank you for what was. I release what is over. I take back my own heart, and I go forward free.”

Closing. Throw away the string. Keep the paper in your book for a month, then recycle it.

Safety. This is not a “cord cutting” to sever anyone’s will, and it is not therapy for trauma. If overwhelming grief or anger, or abuse or the threat of it, is part of the picture, please talk to a doctor, counselor or crisis line.

Adapting this spell

• Low energy days. The no-tools version is the spell. Saying the words once, lying down, counts.
• Chronic illness and disability. Change any step that does not fit your body. Standing can become sitting, a walk can become looking out of a window, and a flame can become an LED. You are the expert on what your body needs.
• Shared homes. Most of these steps can be done silently with ordinary objects, and nobody needs to know they are a spell. The practicing privately page has more ideas.
• Teenagers. Ask a parent or carer before using flame, herbs, teas or baths, and let them check the ingredients.
• Working with a friend. Do the spell side by side, then check in with each other each week. Each person makes their own intention; neither casts on the other.

Keep a short note of how each change worked. Over time, your own version will become more useful to you than the one written here.

Where to go next

The spellcraft guide explains how spells work, the honest theories behind them and how to write your own. For a moon-timed version, see the dark moon release, and for a seasonal one, Samhain.