Inciting 'Everyday Magic'

Semra Haksever’s latest books - “Everyday Magic” and 'Love Spells', invite us invest in the powers of magic as a step towards living our best lives.

Interview with Yana Kasa 

The temptation to get lost in daily demands is something Semra Haksever knows well. The herbalist is candle-maker and writer, she also insists she is a full-time witch. Her latest books are full of tailored spells and potions designed for everyday use which cater to those who sometimes get lost in the conundrum of daily demands. In Love Spells, she gives you incantations to use to attract a partner, and the recipes to oil blends to use to help mend a broken heart. In Everyday Magic Semra challenges the idea that magic and witchcraft needs to be complicated in order to work. Her spells focus on self-care, empowerment and sending out good vibes in order to become intuned with cosmic desires with common household objects being used to help. A small corner in your room could become the altar you use to practice magic often, or for the busy-bees doing it “on the move” is something Semra recommends and is herself familiar with.

First and foremost, Haksever wants you to love yourself and improve your relationship with yourself and others in your life. You will not need a cauldron or a big pointy hat to participate. What Semra say you will need the most are a positive mindset and good intentions. 

A lot of the recipes and potions are self-care related and focus on empowerment, how have they helped you and how would you like for them to help others?

SEMRA: I’m really glad that you see them as self-care related and empowering because that’s exactly how I intended the book to come out. I know it sounds so cliché but I really just wanted to help people be more comfortable with themselves. It’s so important to take a moment out of your day and just really focus on yourself. Do a ritual, do a spell and really look after yourself. I always carry a bunch of incense packs in my bag, so when I meet new people it's like “Yep, you need one! Here have one of mine!”

I really enjoyed the magic on the move part of the book, it applied to what you can do the busy everyday routine, what was the story there? Did you yourself have to do magic on the move?

SEMRA: Absolutely, I always do magic on the move! With the candle business taking off my schedule has been hectic so yes a lot of my magic has been on the move. I send out positive vibrations, stir intentions into the pot when I’m cooking dinner… Magic is always there for me.

The idea of the magic on the move is just to make it more accessible to everyone. For example, I was very busy over the New Years and then when the new year started I saw all sorts of Instagram posts of people doing their new year magic and I actually felt bad that I haven’t done anything. But hopefully this makes it a lot more accessible so people don’t beat themselves up when they don’t do the complex stuff. A lot of the potions and spells in my books encourage you to create a whole environment or like a corner where you can do magic and I’m aware that not everyone can do that. Some people might travel a lot, some might live in shared accommodation and so on. It might be only 3-4 times a year where you can do the complex spells but that shouldn’t mean that you can’t be a part of the club. Pretty much all potions and spells I wrote about in my book have everyday household objects so it really is accessible to everyone.

Which spells and rituals have helped you most?

SEMRA: My self-love spell definitely helped me the most! It’s so important to love yourself and know yourself. I am the biggest Oprah Winfrey fan; I am literally obsessed! And I read somewhere that even the biggest celebrities like Tom Cruise and whatnot that have been on her show, after go up to her and kind of ask “Was that alright? Did I do an alright job?”. So, you know, everybody has doubts about themselves and whatnot, but it’s so so important to love yourself. I do a lot of one-on-one sessions on self-love and self-care. A lot of them are kind of about a partner not calling back or ghosting,so it’s trying to get people to let go of something like that and love themselves first.Once you take care of yourself and really get to know yourself and then that will have a ripple effect and even better things will come.

There was a time in history when witchcraft was associated with danger and almost evil, now it’s a symbol of empowerment, what do you think brought about the change?

SEMRA: To be honest, I’m not sure if there has been a huge change. I still get some weird comments every now and then, people say I don’t actually look like a witch or they say to my boyfriend oh did she put a love spell on you when in reality I just did a spell of what kind of person I would want in my life and then I met him. It was really weird actually because in the spell I mentioned what sort of characteristics and what I value and where he came into my life. Most of the people I meet that introduce myself to are lovely and open-minded. I would like for there to be more of a sisterhood feel to witchcraft rather than fighting demons and doing spells. I feel we will get there but might take some time.

You mention in the introduction that you studied psychology, how much of what you’ve learned during your studies influenced the book?

SEMRA: Well my time studying psychology was a very different time, in my second year I sort of stopped myself and realised that it was too much stats and it just wasn’t what I was enjoying. There are some things that I have learnt and that have really stayed with me. Like how smells affect your brain and you can remember how you felt with those smells. I still find it very interesting but its just a very separate thing.

How different was your life before witchcraft?

SEMRA: Not massively different to be honest with you. I mean I was always interested in stuff like this. I obviously went to uni to do psychology and all so my life was somewhat different. I defiantly wasn’t lucky as I am now. My luck spells and potions really help, as well as other ones. My candles really took off so before I was just starting doing the candles it was more of a thing on the side and then when the candles became very popular it all became more of a full-time thing for me. Like, now I have an assistant to help me get organised and this is what I do day to day so that’s pretty amazing. But, yeah, life was somewhat different but again, everything happens for a reason.

You mentioned that you have had a moment where you submerged into the research of herbs, plants and seeds, how did that change your life, daily routine and relationships?

SEMRA: Well with the relationship, I surrounded myself with the best people that support me. Meeting my boyfriend as well was through magic so that was a big change. Made a big difference to my daily routine, I mean I always have magic on my mind, as I said before doing potions and sending out vibrations whilst I’m cooking. Because this is my full-time kind of job now my entire daily routine and life changed. But for the good!