Social Media as Ritual

I want my life stretched over a magical framework, and if you’re reading this I bet you do too. We all want lives full of magic, even those of us who don’t believe in magic per se. Anytime we experience wonder and awe we feel that life is magical, even if we know exactly what scientifically happened to create that moment of wonder.

For a solo entrepreneur social media can feel like the very antithesis of magic. Many solopreneurs are likely working several day jobs just to make ends meet while they work on every possible aspect of their business...alone. They especially feel the time suck of social media because they don’t have time to spare, so an extended doomscrolling session fills them with a special sort of shame in addition to the usual depression doomscrolling incites. Yet we tend to do it anyway simply because we’re overwhelmed, and we fall into old habits when we’re overwhelmed. Well, for the solopreneurs among you who want a different way of looking at your dreaded social media marketing tasks I had an epiphany!

Choose your deity. When you learn about marketing you inevitably learn about niche audiences and ideal customer avatars. When you do this you are actually creating an egregore. An egregore is an entity that becomes real and takes on a life of its own through the beliefs and intentions of a group of people. Some believe that all of humanity's gods are actually egregores. Think of your ideal customer avatar. Chances are you gave her an entire personality, back story, hobbies, issues, hopes and dreams, age, occupation, and even a name, like Alicia. Then you think of Alicia whenever you have to write marketing copy. You introduce Alicia to your team (or maybe just to family, friends, and your business coach) and even set out an empty chair for her at company meetings. Well, congratulations, you just created an egregore. Now you have your very own deity to work with. You could also create a seal that represents them with one compact visual symbol that you can have etched onto a medallion. Wear this medallion when working your ritual.

Choose your offering. Yes, each social media post is an offering to your egregore. Your offering is chosen because it’s something you know your egregore would absolutely love, and remember to present it in a manner that your egregore would find special and inviting.

Choose the purpose of your ritual. Why are you making this offering to your chosen egregore? Are you hoping for validation of some kind? Love, wealth, fame, power? Have your intention clear in your mind. Do you want likes, comments, and shares (love;) sales (wealth;) to be remembered (fame;) to become an influencer (power?) Or maybe you just want to sing their praises and avoid their wrath so they won’t rise up against you and destroy your crops. Just bear in mind that your particular egregore probably likes variety, so switch up your intentions regularly.

Create your environment. This is a powerful part of ritual, but it’s always more for your benefit than for the deity you’re working with. Creating a beautiful ritual space is what makes it feel like you’re working real magic on a deep subconscious level. Maybe the ritual will feel more magical for you if you make yourself a cup of green tea in a pink mug to represent the abundance your heart chakra would like to receive, or maybe you set your laptop in the center of a circle made up of pointed quartz crystals to amplify your intentions. Light a yellow candle to remind your subconscious that the ritual itself is performed in order to boost your own confidence in becoming ever more visible in the virtual world. Light incense as an offering to higher gods who may have power over your egregore.

Mindset. Yes, mindset is the most important element behind any ritual. You need to believe it will work, or at least be open to the possibility it will work. Your conscious and unconscious minds also need to be on the same page. We know this is not the case when we end up engaging in self sabotaging behaviors...like always forgetting to follow your social media posting schedule. Lean into learning why you do things like that. What is your subconscious mind afraid of? Are you afraid of being seen and possibly criticized? Are you afraid of bothering people because you weren’t allowed to talk about your needs as a child? Are you afraid of trolls and harassment? Are you afraid of success, maybe because you were raised by a narcissistic mother who felt threatened by your popularity in high school? I’ve found YouTube hypnosis videos to be very helpful with these types of unconscious mindset issues. Seriously, google “perfectionism hypnosis videos” they’re free!

Make your ritual a routine. Routine is what makes a ritual a ritual. There needs to be some sort of meaningful consistency. When you engage in meaningful consistency you tell the Universe you would like more synchronicity in your life. Social media posting works best when it’s done every day, at a minimum, and magic rituals work best when they’re done every day too. There are some that work best when performed on certain days of the week, like when you’re working planetary magic, or on certain days of the month if you’re working with moon phases. Planets also have specific hours if you want to work planetary magic daily. You can align your social media offerings with the hours of the planets that most align with your chosen intention, or you can stick to posting whenever your egregore is most likely to be online. But seriously, is that still a thing? I feel like everyone is online all the time now.

You know what else makes a ritual work? When you forget about it. This goes along with the idea that you need to trust the magic will work. This means you resist the urge to constantly be checking the status of your offering. Your time is extremely limited anyway. Pick a time when you will perform your ritual, and only check on the status of yesterday’s ritual at that time. This is when you respond to comments on your posts, and only then. Maybe spend some time interacting with your egregore’s posts as well, but set a timer. Avoid mindless doomscrolling and procrastination at all costs!

I’m hoping this method makes social media marketing feel less like a slog and more like a wonder-working in the woods. Hopefully this can spark your inspiration as well, just believe that your egregore is waiting eagerly for your offerings!