July’s secret longing for October

There’s something strange that happens around mid-July. The sun is blazing, the tomatoes are ripening on the vine, and the days stretch long and golden. And yet, some of us start to feel it. That little flicker in the shadows. That craving for candles, cinnamon, and something just a bit… haunted.

You know the feeling.

Maybe it’s the way the cicadas are humming ancient spells. Or how the heat makes everything shimmer like a mirage, blurring the boundary between this world and the next. Maybe it’s just the burnout of endless brightness, and the soul starts to reach toward the cool hush of autumn. Whatever it is, July can stir the witches and weirdos among us.

We start craving Halloween.

Not the commercial version, but the soul of it. The liminal. The sacred. The spooky. The permission to get weird. The chance to slip into something magical and cozy.

It’s the yearning for cooler air and rustling leaves, for black lace and candles, for walking through dusk with a little mystery in your pocket.

And even if the calendar says high summer, our hearts start whispering October.

So what do we do with that feeling?

We let it dance with the heat. We slip little rituals into the long days—ways to welcome the coming shift without rushing summer away.

✨ Sip your iced tea with a cinnamon stick or a sprig of mugwort.

✨ Burn incense after sunset—frankincense, patchouli.

✨ Read a ghost story on the porch while the sun goes down.

✨ Add a few obsidian stones or dried flowers to your altar.

✨ Take a night walk and listen for the hush between the cricket calls.

✨ Let your dreams get weirder. Let your herbs get witchier.

Because July is the tipping point. The season still burns bright, but if you’re listening closely, the breeze tells you a shift is coming soon.