41. Sun Tea

Slow magick, calm living, simplicity.

Slow, intentional, delicious interweaving with life holds more magick than you think.

Sun tea is slow magick in the most delicious way possible: just fill a Mason jar with fruit and herbs and let the sun gently extract precious nutrients. It’s the easiest form of folk healing, a wonderful way to nourish your body and mind. Whether you’re doing it for physical or spiritual reasons, sometimes the biggest magick is found in the smallest acts of bliss.

Simplify, simplify, simplify: less is more when pulling the sun tea card. Don’t make things harder than they need to be by introducing too many options, too many steps or too many people. In a world where everything is maxed out and amplified, this card advises you to keep things as uncomplicated as possible. Rather than focusing on doing more, scale back and do less really well. A chocolate cookie with brown butter, slowly aged whiskey, basil and artisanal sea salt sounds lovely but so does a good old-fashioned chocolate chip cookie baked to perfection. Adding extra layers is fine when the foundation is good, but otherwise it’s just a busy mess that’s all bark and no bite.

There’s no rush to move things along faster than is necessary, so you can slow down and rest assured that you aren’t missing out. Don’t feel pressured to go out when you don’t feel like it or to say “Yes” to an opportunity just because it’s available. The whole world doesn’t need to be famous or rich or eccentric or living life in the fast lane. No lifestyle is bad or wrong as long as it fulfills your needs.

This tea spell is ritualistic in how intentional the process is, and setting intentions into tea is a powerful way to work with the plant spirits of the ingredients to amplify your spell. Here we are also working with the sun’s energy, which will boost your spell but, most importantly, the sun will bring you into your presence.

The recipe calls for regular teabags: use four bags for two quarts of water or eight bags for a gallon of water. I love hibiscus for this spell, but any herbal tea will work and you can even mix teabags. Glass is recommended over plastic for brewing sun tea, but if you’re using plastic make sure the container doesn’t contain any Bisphenol-A. You will need a glass container, some teabags, sprigs of lavender, edible flowers and sugar, honey or artificial sweetener.

This tea is flexible, and I suggest customizing it however works for you by replacing the lavender flowers with other flowers and choosing whether or not to sweeten the tea or add edible flowers. Customizing adds more of your magic, and the power comes in when you start the process. With everything you do, from preparing to drinking, keep your intention in mind.

Fill the container with water and place the teabags, lavender and flowers in it. Leave the container out in the sun to brew for two to three hours, then place it in the fridge to cool off. Once cool you can add the honey or sugar, and when you do so think of your intention again. Drink slowly, be present and enjoy.