About Me

Just to clarify a couple of things from the above bio, a quaintrelle is a woman who emphasises a life of passion expressed through personal style, leisurely pastimes, charm, and cultivation of life’s pleasures. Given that I had always thought of my pursuits as superficial and often just plain lazy, this is one label I have been overjoyed to adopt!

Most importantly though, you need to understand about my bibbidi-bobbidi-boos, Leonardo and Michelangelo.

So it’s probably fair to say our haven is ruled by these two little poppets and, predictably, it’s lunacy!!!

Now on to my reason for creating Ladylike Magick and this website…

For as long as I can remember, I have been an absolute fiend for all things beauty related. Not because I’m wanting to create a mask or appear as something I’m not or look like everybody else. I’ve just always found it a power of fun and creativity. I enjoy playing with some kookiness on occasion and rebelling against conventions (oh ok, more often than not!), and this is one of my favourite ways to indulge in it.

Unlike my tattoos, this is a temporary form of adornment that I can remove easily if I’m unhappy with the result or change my mind halfway through!

Like a lot of teenagers, I had a dreadful time with my skin and began educating myself about how I could best manage it with the mentorship of a beautiful family friend. Helping others feel comfortable in their own skins, both literally and figuratively, is now a driving force for me after the kindness I was so freely offered.

My sacred self-care practice started when I began feeling doctors and even well-meaning loved ones were putting labels and expectations on me. I couldn’t grasp why I was so unhappy and distressed trying to live up to these ideals and inevitably failing as I wasn’t living a life in accordance with the whispers from my soul.

To paraphrase Deepak Chopra, awakening is not discovering who you are but discarding who you are not. Freaking powerful words. There is such joy when I release another little piece of who I thought I was or was meant to be but turns out I’m not at all.

One thing I would like you to know about me is my absolute loathing of putting people in little boxes. I adore the power of language, with a passion I believe was instilled in me from birth by my darling Dad, the most articulate person I’ve ever met. However, this power comes with the responsibility of using it in a consciously loving manner, not to wound and harm.

Remember, your words can plant gardens or burn whole forests down.

Gemma Troy

So my reason for despising pigeon-holing myself or others is the potential to inadvertently hurt someone. It may seem silly but I will very rarely use expressions such as ‘mental health’ as this can stigmatise. I find it more gentle and loving to refer to ’emotional balance’. I become annoyed by some buzzwords too, for example, mindfulness. Please don’t get me wrong, I am a whole-hearted advocate for the process but my preference is to say ‘keeping my head where my hands are’. Just one of my many idiosyncrasies!

I no longer feel ashamed of needing to maintain my emotional balance, however, when you announce you have a mental disorder it is very human to then make assumptions about that person. I’d much rather find out about others by their actions and vice versa without accidental prejudice.

I’ve learned along the way that sacred self-care isn’t selfish or self-indulgent, and it also isn’t treating yourself to a nice manicure or candlelit bath (although I do highly recommend both for a bit of a pamper!). I’m referring to daily rituals including journalling, actively practising gratitude, living within my boundaries, and seeking out beauty among other things that are vital to all areas of my health – emotional, physical, spiritual – and if I let them fall by the wayside, I suffer, and I’d suggest that those around me do too.

Now how does this all combine with being a witch you may ask?

The basic ethic of witchcraft is love for life in all its forms. In essence, it is traditionally a nature-based practice of working in harmony and unison with Mother Earth and learning the many mysteries She has to share, including the healing properties of herbs, flowers and crystals, as well as the many magickal correspondences that make up magickal practice.

I do want to point out that ‘props’ aren’t necessary to many in their practice, however, I love the visual element of my craftings and find it helps me focus more easily. Plus, to be entirely honest, I simply enjoy the witchy, mystical feelings engendered by wax sealing a spell jar or inscribing and anointing candles etc!

An aim of magick is to train the mind by harnessing and making more consciously accessible such higher faculties as intuition, inspiration and the creative imagination, and by drawing on the power of the unconscious. In other words, to try and use more than 10% of our brain’s capacity than we do!

It assumes belief in or experience of subtle energies. Acts such as meditation, breath control, visualisation, ritual, and others, are all designed to improve our body and mind, to better balance us, and enable us to perceive and wield more subtle energies.

I had been incorporating many of the elements I’ve mentioned above along my spiritual path but I was at a loss as to how to articulate my beliefs as they seemed so disparate. Given my love of language, if I can’t frame my thoughts or feelings in words they become invalid.

Then during my adventures around the internet, I inexplicably started reading posts about witchcraft. It felt like someone (in hindsight, I believe it was the Goddess) had looked into my mind and heart, and articulated all the things I hadn’t been able to, to give my seemingly random beliefs and feelings some sort of context.

At this point, it became logical to me to combine my three passions – goddess pampering, sacred self-care, and witchcraft – and pull them under the umbrella of Ladylike Magick.

On a lighter note, I’m a totally besotted aunt to the most beautiful, mind-blowing twin nephews. They are the most miraculous creatures the Goddess has ever put on the Earth, and have the ability to ground me in the moment, revel in silliness, and knock me on my bum awe-struck by their perfection! It would be remiss of me not to mention that their mum (my little sis) is the funniest person I know. Just sayin’.

When you can’t find me spending time doing any of the above, there’s a very big chance you’ll find me on the wonderland that is Pinterest. This is my other happy place on the web where I derive much inspiration and joy. It is a fantastic source of knowledge about all of my passions mentioned above, as well as cats and sloths (my spirit animals!), tips I have found helpful to develop a self-loving attitude, and quirky and whimsical ideas to (hopefully!) take delight in.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you’ll do so again, or just contact me to be included in my secret Ladylike Magick VIP Group.

💜✨ Love, light & blessings ✨💜

Katie