A Spell to Find Freedom in the Container You Choose
There was a time in my life when every minute was accounted for. When I worked as a pharmacist, my days were so tightly structured that I could feel my breath shorten just thinking about the next task. There was no space, no room for curiosity, no room for me. I felt stifled, trapped, and eventually… burnt out.
And then I left.
I stepped into something that looked like freedom—wide open days, infinite possibility, the ability to choose what I did and who I might meet. And for a while, it felt exhilarating. Until it didn’t. Because the truth is, too much openness can feel just as heavy as too much structure. When everything is possible, it can start to feel like the weight of infinity pressing down on you. No edges. No containment. Just… endlessness.
And that’s when I started to understand something differently. Freedom is not the absence of structure. Freedom is the containers we choose for ourselves.
Sometimes, we need a wide open field—a season where we wander, experiment, try things on, and follow what lights us up without knowing where it will lead. And sometimes, once we find something that matters, we need a tighter container. Something that holds the work while it deepens. Something that allows the magick to crystallize. A sonnet is a tight little container for a liberating poem. A cauldron is a magickal container for spell work that frees you from old patterns. A womb is a container for a whole new life to manifest. Structure is not the enemy of freedom. It is what allows something meaningful to take form.
A friend reflected something to me recently that landed more deeply than I expected. She said I have strong initiation energy—but not as much finishing energy. And she was right. Not because I am incapable of finishing—I’ve finished many things in my life—but because I’ve been living in a season of exploration - planting seeds, following threads, letting things reveal themselves.
But there comes a moment when the seeds need tending. When the work asks to be held. When inspiration alone is no longer enough.
So instead of judging myself for not finishing, I made a different choice: I built a container for my finishing energy to take root. Not a rigid cage and not a punishment, but a chosen structure. Daily, weekly, and monthly rhythms that support the life I am building. Small, consistent promises to myself that say: this matters. Because if I can give up sugar for 40 days for Lent, I can do anything. And because my work deserves to be nurtured—not just imagined.
I hold these commitments with devotion, and I also hold the authority to change them as I grow. Because that, too, is part of freedom. Not rigid adherence and not endless wandering, but the ability to feel what is needed and respond accordingly.
So this is the question I’m sitting with this week, and the one I’ll offer to you: What kind of container does your life need right now? More space, or more structure? And what might become possible if you chose it on purpose? Check out the spell below!
A Spell for Choosing Your Container
This is a spell for the moment when everything feels possible…and therefore nothing feels clear. This is a spell for when you are standing between expansion and structure, wandering and becoming, what could be and what you are ready to claim.
Materials
A journal or piece of paper
A pen
A small object to serve as your container
(a jewelry box, an oyster shell, an acorn, a small bowl—anything that feels beautiful, protective, or holding to you)A candle (optional, but lovely)
Step 1: Choose Your Container
Before you begin, select your object. Hold it in your hands for a moment and consider:This object holds something.
It protects, contains, or nurtures what is inside.
Let it represent the kind of container you are choosing for your life right now. There is no right choice—only resonance.
Step 2: Arrival
Sit down somewhere you can be uninterrupted. Take a breath into your body—not your thoughts, not your plans, not your future—just your body.
Let your shoulders drop.
Let your jaw soften.
Let yourself arrive.
You might place one hand on your heart, and one on your container. I am here.
Step 3: Name the Season You Are In
Write at the top of your page: “Right now, my life is asking for…”
And let yourself answer honestly, not what you should need, not what would impress anyone, but what is true.
Is it more space?
More structure?
More rest?
More devotion?
More clarity?
Let the answer come without editing.
Step 4: Choose Your Container
Now write: “The container I choose for this season is…”
Be specific, but keep it simple. This is not your whole life plan. This is not forever. This is a chosen shape for this chapter. Let it feel supportive, not punishing.
Step 5: Place It Inside
Fold the paper, and gently place it inside or beneath your chosen object. Let this be a physical act of containment. You are not limiting your life. You are giving it a shape to grow within.
Step 6: Speak It Into Being
If you have a candle, light it now. Read your container out loud. Let your voice hear your own commitment. You might say:
“I choose this container to support what I am becoming.”
“I trust that this structure will hold my growth.”
Step 7: Seal the Spell
Place your hand over your container. Take one slow breath in… and out, and say:
“I allow this to be enough for now.” Because it is.
You do not need to solve your whole life. You only need to choose what holds you next.
Closing Blessing
May you trust your seasons.
May you honor both your wildness and your discipline.
May you build containers that feel like devotion, not restriction.
And may what you are creating within them…
become more beautiful than you imagined.
If you’re feeling the pull between expansion and structure—between possibility and clarity—you don’t have to navigate it alone. In my spell work sessions, we uncover the story you’re currently living and consciously choose the one you want to step into next. Because the life you want doesn’t come from more effort—it comes from the right container.