I went into the bay leaf ritual half-skeptical, half-curious, slipping a dry leaf under my pillow like a secret. The first nights didn’t bring lightning-bolt revelations, but there was a subtle shift: my dreams grew richer, more colorful, threaded with symbols that stayed with me into the morning. Writing an intention on the leaf felt oddly intimate, like confessing something to the dark that I hadn’t admitted out loud.

What surprised me most wasn’t magic, but mindfulness. That tiny act before bed slowed me down. It turned “scroll and collapse” into a quiet moment of choosing what I wanted to invite into my life — protection, clarity, luck, or just a better night’s rest. Maybe the power isn’t in the leaf at all, but in the pause it creates. Still, when I slide one under my pillow now, the night feels just a little more charged with possibility.