🧑‍🧒 WITCH CHALLENGE - Your Inner Child

[BryWisteria]

Merry meet,

Thank you once again to all those who joined in for last week’s Witch Challenge - Morning Magick

The sun has risen, and its bright light is illuminating a way through time and space to a part of ourselves that we may not often acknowledge.

The theme for this challenge invites you to meet someone special, and is…

Your Inner Child

Embracing your playful and childlike nature

You may have heard the term “inner child” around the forum or in other spiritual spaces. While it may mean slightly different things to different practitioners, the inner child usually refers to an internal aspect or entity within someone that relates back to their childhood.

In some schools of popular psychology and analytical psychology, the inner child is an individual’s childlike aspect. It includes what a person learned as a child before puberty. The inner child is often conceived as a semi-independent subpersonality subordinate to the waking conscious mind. The term has therapeutic applications in counseling and health settings.

From Wikipedia: Inner Child

Someone may picture their inner child as a state of being, as an entity with its own personality and identity, or as the younger version of the self

Working with or meeting one’s inner child can be a way to heal past trauma, find acceptance, or simply nurture a pure and playful energy. The inner child allows one to remember what the world was like through the curious and hopeful eyes of a child. Whatever your beliefs and experience, it’s a magickal topic worth exploring!

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

This challenge is about your inner child - how you choose to take on this theme is up to you. So are you ready? Because it’s…

CHALLENGE TIME!

Picture made in Canva

---

---

The World Through a Child’s Eyes

This challenge is all about working with your inner child - as always, feel free to explore the theme in a way that aligns with you and your unique practice.

Still not sure where to begin? To help you get started, here are a few suggested spells and other ways in which a witch might approach this challenge.

Please make sure you are logged into your Spells8 Account so you can view all of the resources shared!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A Playful Practice

Like all children, the inner child loves to play. They have interests and dreams they want to pursue - whether or not something is “logical” or “realistic” means nothing to them! For this challenge, consider tapping into that pure and limitless energy. Let yourself play, create, and follow your whims without worry.

Magickal Crafting: The Spells8 ‘Crafts’ Tag

Creative Writing with Tarot

Dionysus Devotional for a Good Time

Happiness Activation with Selenite

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Healing Past Wounds

Meeting the inner child can be a way to face and heal past difficulties that continue to influence your adult self. If you feel called to do so, you might consider exploring methods to heal your inner child for this challenge.

A gentle reminder that the forum is a family-friendly place for magickal studies and is not equipped to handle extreme situations of distress. When sharing sensitive content, please remember to be mindful and follow the guidelines for talking about trauma. Thank you

Healing Prayer and Spell

Shadow Work: How to Heal

• Tarot Spread for Inner Child Work
• Inner child healing meditation for childhood trauma
• Shadow Work & Inner Child
• Spell jar and bag for my inner children / family
• Is their any wiccan rituals for healing the inner child?
• Bradshaw on Healing the Inner Child

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

…And More!

The suggestions above are just a few ideas to help kickstart your creativity. If you feel called to explore the challenge theme in another way, you are welcome to do so.

Picture made in Canva

---

---

How to Join the Challenge

In order for your entry to be counted, all you have to do is write/share about your experience and label it as your challenge entry. There is a lot of chatting here (which is awesome- chatting and discussion are very welcome!) so please clearly write that it is your entry so I know to count it!

Where Do I Share My Entry?

Click here to learn where to share your challenge entry

You are welcome to post it right here- just click “reply” to this post and write your experience in the text box that pops up!

Alternatively, you could create a new post in the forum (this is good for when you have a lot to share and/or would like to discuss aspects of your entry not related to the current theme)

Note: If you do choose to create a new thread, please add the “challenge-entry” tag and/or add a hyperlink back to this post so that it can be easily found- thank you!

Click here for a note for our lovely lurkers

Everyone is welcome to join the challenge. For those who would like the challenge prizes, please know that you will need to share your experience if you want to receive a prize and a public shout-out.

Don’t feel comfortable sharing? No fear! For lurkers and those who are shy, it is absolutely okay to follow along with the challenge on the sidelines. At the end of the day, these challenges are here to help you help yourself by expanding and enhancing your personal magickal practice. I hope they can be helpful for you!

---

Deadline

This challenge will close in 13 DAYS

To join in, please share your experience by:

Tuesday, September 9 at 7:00 AM EDT (Eastern US Time)
2025-09-09T11:00:00Z

(Note that the time zone is ET- if you don’t see your time displayed above, you can use this time zone calculator to check for your time zone!)

---

Prizes

For their efforts, all participants will receive a special shout-out and a small prize!

Acknowledgments will be given in a Props and Presents Post that will appear in the forums the day the challenge closes.

After the challenge closes, you are still very welcome to post but please be aware that no additional prizes will be given. This discussion will remain open for about a week after the challenge finishes.

Picture from Canva

A warm reminder that the challenges are designed to be very open- everyone is encouraged to participate in a way that honors and reflects their unique practice

If you’re not sure whether or not something is acceptable to post, please double-check with the Forum FAQ and/or reach out to your friendly Moderator Team.

And for those new to challenges- welcome! Know that the goal of these activities is to help you further diversify and strengthen your abilities and to bring together the Spells8 forum family to inspire and support one another in creative ways

Pictures by @celineelise, shared in spell jar and bag for my inner children

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Deep inside, there’s another you
Their eyes are clear and their heart is true
By your side, they’ll always stay
So let them out - it’s time to play!

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Blessed Be

[BryWisteria]

Pick the Challenge Badge

The tradition continues! Let us know - which title do you like the most?

• Magickal Caretaker
• Child at Heart
• Playful Witch
• Inner Child Protection Squad
• Bright-Eyed and Blessed

The title with the most votes will be awarded to all challenge entrants.

Thanks for sharing your vote - blessed be!

[Selena-Paloma]

I love this Challenge! I do a lot of Inner Child Work and I offer it for my business too!

[Greenbriar]

Oh my goodness! Talk about serendipity! I was just thinking about doing another spell jar, or pouch, and was wondering what the focus of it could be. Then I saw the photo at the end of the post and decided that’s exactly what I am going to do - a spell to connect with my inner child.

I have the herbs and crystals I think I will need, I just need to find some personal charms or tokens - perhaps a sea shell or something like that.

[tracyS]

One word. Disney!

[julie8]

CHALLENGE ENTRY

Your Inner Child - Sandra Saller

I believe it is very important to have fun and remember the fun things that we did as kids. I love zip lines, swings and running through water parks and fountains and slippery slides.

Photos are mine.

Being a Granny with 2 awesome little granddaughters is definitely fun and gives me so many excuses to be a kid and have fun with them.

So next time you walk past a kids fun park jump right in and have some fun, you are never too old.

Blessed Be

[Greenbriar]

This is great. I never had kids, so no grandkids either but I always get excited when I hear the ice cream can going round the neighborhood. Always take me back to my childhood.

[Greenbriar]

This isn’t my challenge Entry but… I was on my way to get some added ingredients for my work jar when I just rolled into the Tutti Frutti parking lot and decided to treat myself to a chocolate swirl frozen yogurt with chopped nuts and chocolate syrup. Yummmmmmmmmmmm. My Inner Child was very happy.

[Garnet]

Witch challenge – inner child

Challenge entry - Garnet

Revisiting my ‘inner child’ is as easy as a memory with a smile attached.
I remember weekends were wild fun. Weekdays, we were good citizens. Yep
Little robots.

Some things I remember clearly. The weekend visit from Mom’s sister and
her family. What fun! Nita, my youngest cousin hated having her long hair washed.
So Aunt and my Mon would corner her, slap her on the counter with her head
over the sink.

Talk about a 7 year old drama queen. It ended up being a 15 min.
temper tantrum with 2 grown adults trying to wrangle one tiny girl.
As soon as they dried her hair, all was forgiven and the mom’s had to change
their soaked clothes and rest a while.

The older kids were immediately off and doing grown up ‘teenager’ stuff”.
Nita and I pretended to be different people or, our favorite. Horses.
We galloped around the lawn, played tag, generally ran all over the place.
Screaming, yelling and having a good time. Sometimes we would dance…
badly and spin in circles until we fell down. We’d watch the clouds and find
shapes in them. A dolphin, a dragon a train engine all you needed was an
imagination.

When they weren’t there, I wandered the fields and forest, a wild child.
We lived in the country with more cows than people. You didn’t worry about your
kids because the kids were raised by the community.
And you didn’t get away with anything.
That was fun! Thanks for the suggestion.

Blessings
Garnet

[Medea]

Excellent Challenge! You brought back some pleasant memories. I thought I only had bad memories as a child. All of the kids in the neighborhood would all get together outside at one of our houses and the parents would sit outside with their cocktails and cigs while we ran around playing ghost in the graveyard or tag…

Blessed Be
Medea

[Greenbriar]

Challenge Entry #1

One thing that can instantly transport me back to my childhood and bring out my inner child is watching the clouds change shapes in the sky. Usually accompanied by “that one looks like……” I love sitting on my patio and cloud-watching

And the other thing is hearing the ice cream van going round the neighborhood with his music playing. Instantly transports me back to 1960’s England and “Mr Whippy” who was our local ice cream vendor.

Just for fun, later today or tomorrow, I’m going to do a spell jar to connect with my inner child (not that I seem to have much problem doing it). I’ll post that as a separate entry later.

[Greenbriar]

Challenge Entry #2

I researched what I wanted to go in this spell jar, but I worked with Co-Pilot to write this guide.

Spell Jar to Connect With Your Inner Child

A Ritual of Joy, Healing, and Self-Discovery

Introduction

Deep within each of us dwells a spirit of wonder, curiosity, and authentic joy—the inner child. For many, life’s daily demands and the weight of experience can distance us from this essential part of the soul. Yet, nurturing the inner child brings forth creativity, light, and spontaneous happiness. One sacred practice to foster this connection is the crafting of a spell jar, an enchanting vessel filled with intention, symbolic items, and magic. This guide will walk you through the process of creating your own spell jar to reconnect with your inner child, offering healing, joy, and boundless self-love.

What Is a Spell Jar?

A spell jar is an ancient form of sympathetic magic, used by witches and magical practitioners to manifest intentions, protect the spirit, or invite energies into one’s life. The jar acts as a physical anchor for spiritual energy, holding within it a blend of objects, herbs, crystals, and written wishes. Each carefully chosen element represents an aspect of your desire, and as you assemble the jar, you weave your intention into every layer.

Why Connect With Your Inner Child?

The inner child is the part of you that remembers simple pleasures: laughter, play, dreams, and wonder. Connecting with this aspect nurtures your soul, helps heal old emotional wounds, and reignites lost passions. For witches and spiritual seekers, embracing the inner child can deepen intuition, inspire creativity in spellwork, and cultivate an authentic relationship with self.

Gathering Your Magical Ingredients

To create a spell jar, gather items that symbolize playfulness, healing, innocence, and creativity. Allow your intuition to guide you, but here are some suggestions:

· Small Glass Jar: A vessel with a lid to contain your magic. Size and color are up to you.

· Rose Quartz: The stone of unconditional love and healing, perfect for self-compassion.

· Citrine or Sunstone: Crystals of joy, optimism, and sunlight energy.

· Chamomile and Lavender: Herbs for soothing, calming, and invoking gentle dreams.

· Dried Orange Peel: For creativity and bright, sunny energy.

· Colored Beads or Confetti: Reminders of play, fun, and childlike delight.

· Small Toy or Trinket: Such as a marble, button, or charm that reminds you of childhood joys.

· Glitter: Symbolizing magic, wonder, and the sparkle of imagination.

· Paper and Pen: To write an affirmation or wish for your inner child.

· Ribbon or String: In a color that evokes happiness for you (yellow, pink, light blue, etc.).

Feel free to add objects that hold special meaning for you—perhaps a pressed flower, a tiny drawing from your youth, or a shell collected on a childhood adventure.

Preparing Your Space

Set aside a time when you will not be disturbed. Arrange your items on a clean surface, perhaps lighting a white or pastel candle to invite gentle, healing energy. You may wish to cast a circle, call on the four elements, or simply say a prayer for guidance and protection. Play soft music or sounds that remind you of childhood happiness.

Assembling Your Spell Jar

Let your intuition lead, but consider the following steps:

1. Hold your jar and visualize it filling with golden, playful light. See this energy as the pure joy of your inner child.

2. Add the crystals first, speaking your intention aloud: “I welcome joy, healing, and wonder into my life.”

3. Sprinkle in the herbs, imagining yourself comforted, safe, and loved.

4. Drop in the colored beads, confetti, and trinket, recalling a happy memory or imagining a scene of childhood delight.

5. With a pinch of glitter, say: “May my spirit sparkle with magic and hope.”

6. On your piece of paper, write a loving affirmation, such as, “I honor and cherish my inner child.” Fold it and place it in the jar.

7. Seal the jar, tying your chosen ribbon around the lid. As you do, affirm, “I am one with my inner child, and together we dance through life.”

Charging and Activating Your Spell Jar

Hold your completed jar in your hands. Close your eyes and breathe deeply, visualizing energy flowing from your heart into the jar. Imagine you and your inner child laughing, playing, and healing together. If you wish, set the jar in sunlight or moonlight for a few hours to further charge it with natural energy.

Using Your Inner Child Spell Jar

Place the jar somewhere special—on your altar, bedside table, or a shelf you see every day. Whenever you feel disconnected, sad, or world-weary, hold the jar and remember the joy and freedom of your inner self. You can open the jar and revisit its contents whenever you need a reminder of your own innocence and capacity for happiness.

Spell Jar Affirmation and Closing

You may wish to repeat an affirmation or closing statement each time you use the jar. Some examples:

· “I honor my inner child and welcome their laughter and light.”

· “I am worthy of play, wonder, and pure joy.”

· “My inner child is safe, loved, and free.”

Whenever you interact with your spell jar, do so with intention, gratitude, and an open heart.

Further Ideas for Inner Child Healing

· Journal about playful memories and new ways to bring joy into your life.

· Engage in a creative activity that you loved as a child—drawing, singing, dancing, or building something with your hands.

· Spend time in nature, allowing yourself to explore with curiosity and wonder.

· Practice visualizations, imagining your inner child feeling safe, seen, and cherished.

Conclusion

Your spell jar is a living work of magic—a beacon guiding you back to the spontaneous joy, creativity, and hope of your inner child. May it bring healing, laughter, and light to all the corners of your heart. Blessed be.

[tracyS]

Challenge Entry

My inner child is easy to make smile.

She loves Disney

She loves shopping for witchy things

She loves Christian songs

She loves fairytales

She lives in her own world

But she’s easily scared

And hates spiders

But with a little bit of

Magic, and the odd

Game of cards.

She remembers she’s a Shield Maiden Incarnate.

Skal

[dan3]

Witch Challenge – Your Inner Child

I like my Inner Child – However:

The inner child as a symbolic and emotional presence This is a positive post about Inner Child. The term can get wrapped around many issues that the psychological types dig into regularly. Here are a couple of references that deal with those legitimate issues (drop down ).

Summary

Engaging with your inner child can lead to positive outcomes like increased self-awareness, emotional healing, and a greater sense of joy and creativity. However, it can also bring up painful memories and unresolved issues from childhood, which may be challenging to confront and process. Positive Pscyology - https://positivepsychology.com/inner-child-healing/

As we grow older, we carry these false internal beliefs with us. We learn to reject ourselves and as a result develop insecurities from the pastimes as a child when we have felt we have not received approval or love. We can find ways to cope with this feeling, such as avoidance, drink and drugs, distractions, striving to perfection, hiding who you are in view of feeling rejected. This can also impact on our mental health, causing anxiety, panic attacks, low self esteem, lack of confidence, eating problems, depression, anger etc. As a result of this, it stops us being the person we are capable of being, as we live by the rule that our inner child has experienced of not being good enough to be loved. So the inner child may live for approval from others. https://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/articles/what-is-the-inner-child-and-how-does-it-impact-my-adult-self

In Dialog with Wonder

(meme)

My inner child is an emotional and continual companion. A very important one since it forms much of my personality, gives me feedback, reminds me of harsh things that happened but always turns to seeing joy and release for me.

Within us, all is a radiant inner child bathed in joy. ~ Amy Leigh Mercree.

When I see an owl looking at me through the trees and it stays there and listens to me speak softly to it for 10 or 15 minutes, my inner child does cartwheels. And I embrace the feeling.

When one of our daughters has a comeback to a comment that sounds exactly like me, my inner child smiles.

When I see trouble unfolding, my potty mouth child will grin and say, “I’ll be damned” and encourage me to ‘embrace the suck’. Maybe even make a thank you card for my nurses.

My Inner Child observed that wearing Crocs (they have air holes in their tops) is bad when you stand up and pee in the woods. I related this over a tactical radio and forever listened to a repeat of my words when our group got together. Embarrassing but my Inner Child thought it was hilarious.

I tried to do a Tarot spread about my inner child and it told me to forget it – it was comfortable where it was in my life and overthinking it had no purpose.

I once told a soldier who had to wear a colostomy bag due to a silly decision that he finally had all his shit in one sack. We both laughed until there were tears in our eyes.

There is a tattered saying that “The only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys.” I have proven that over and over. I delight in building fireworks, testing myself when SCUBA diving, flying model airplanes, building robots, taking a boat out into blue water, having inane discussions with Alexa and thanking her afterward, building a complex program and finding silly mistakes – and I love helping others with their toys.

My inner child is sometimes materialistic, often a hedonist, and can do a 180 and be empathetic and generous. And then it can come up with:

I like my inner child.

(picture credit Internet Pillar)

[dan3]

@tracyS , @Greenbriar , @Garnet , @julie8 , @Medea

I love the way you all are carrying this theme. I was worried that my approach would be a little too flippant but it was true for me.

We mature in knowledge and wisdom but never leave the playground of our hearts. ~ Terri Guillemets.

My childhood may be over, but that doesn’t mean playtime is. ~ Ron Olson.

[Greenbriar]

@dan3 I loved your post too. My Inner child reacts much the same as yours, and yes my inner child has a potty mouth sometimes too!

[Feathertip]

@julie8, @Garnet, @Greenbriar, @tracyS, @Medea, @dan3 - I love reading everyone’s thoughts, reactions and entries - this particular challenge seems to touch us all in a special way!

I love it and will be thinking on my contribution. Thanks to you all for sharing - and for the great photos! @julie8 - I’m right behind you on that zipline, sister. You’re awesome!

[TheMuslimWitch]

Challenge entry: Purchased inner Child @TheMuslimWitch

For my challenge entry, I just wanted to share something I have been undecided about for a few weeks to busy feeling childish, but remembered that usually these thoughts don’t stop me from doing what makes me happy, so as a result I brought this and was lucky it was still there:

It is a cockatiel plushy. I love them and have two pet cockatiels called cookie and chickpea.

[dan3]

@TheMuslimWitch

It is a cockatiel plushy

So cute! Does it have a name, yet?

[BryWisteria]

One week to go!

Weeee~! A big thank you to everyone who has turned this space into a playground of encouragement and fun. It’s awesome hearing about your inner children, ways that you work/play with them, and deeper thoughts about the concept of the inner child. Great job to everyone who has chimed in so far!

For those still pondering what to share, rest assured that plenty of time remains on the challenge clock. There is one more week until this challenge closes.

Looking forward to seeing your entries!

Blessed be