Until2022′s Guide To Catching Up When You’re Drastically Behind In Study:

dark academia on a budget

(because not only rich people can be dark academics)

-thrifting with friends for old sweaters that someone’s grandfather must have worn

-getting second (or third or fourth) hand books and reading the notes that other people left in them

-making sure everything is tidy and clean, no matter what

-adopting a minimalist aesthetic

-or making your own decorations (which then makes you better at lettering and art)

-sitting in a local cafe and buying the cheapest thing so that you can study there (and making sure that you tip as much as you can)

-reading poetry online, printing your favorites, and posting them on your walls

-taking as much of your family’s clothing that they’ll let you have

-rotating the same few shirts, pants, and shoes without anyone noticing

-a lack of jewelry (because there are more important things)

-sitting outside at a park to read or write

-looking outside windows on public transport while listening to somber music

How To Create Your Own Spells

Dedicated to @a–special–one​ Thank you so much for asking! I felt like this needed a post all it’s own ^u^

-from my grimoire

I’d like to say before anything else, and as I always say, this is not the only way to do this. There are many different ways to create your own spells, and this is simply the method that I find easiest when teaching beginners. And always remember that when it comes to crafting a spell, your intentions are whats most important.

Gathering Your Thoughts

The first step to creating any spell, is thinking about what kind of spell you want to perform, how you want to perform it, and how you want it to manifest.

Ask yourself some questions. “What kind of spell do I want to make?” “Does this need to be a very specific spell or a vague one?” “What method am I going to use to cast/create the spell?” “How do I want this spell to affect me or the person it’s aimed at?” “What kind of ingredients am I going to need?” “What time of day or moon phase would I like to perform this spell?” Anything along those lines are important questions to ask before you start working on your spell. Write the questions and answers down on paper that way you can keep track of everything!

Types of Spells

The next place you’re going to end up is choosing what kind of spell you want to do. Picking what type of spell you want to do is important because this is what decides how effective it is, how long it’s going to last, and when it’s effect will activate. This is not a list of all the types of spells out there, but simply the types that I do on a regular basis. And as another note, you can totally combine methods as well! This can easily enhance the power of your spells and make your intentions more clear and direct.

Prayer - This is the most simple form of a spell, and best to do if you’re only looking for a little aid rather than something major. A spell like this puts you in the universes hands completely.

Spoken Word - Differing from prayer because this has actual intentions in mind. This is usually a word, phrase, rhyme/lyric, or short paragraph spoken with energy. A spell like this can be very effective depending on how much energy you put into it and how much you actually believe in yourself. If you’re low on supplies and need something solid, spoken word is the way to go.

Incense Spell - An incense spell is usually directed at yourself rather than at another person, though that doesn’t mean it can’t work on another. But these are very temporary spells and only last as long as the burning incense. Usually this kind of spell is used to enhance focus.

Candle Spell - One of the most common types of spell you’re going to see are ones with candles. You can perform this spell on yourself or another person easily, and they’re very fast acting depending on the type of candle you use. When doing this kind of spell, take things like color and size in account.

Crystal Grid - A type of spell work that is done by placing specific crystals in a manner where their energies intermingle and work together to perform a task. This is a spell type that I use on a daily basis to set the mood for the day and keep me energies.

Sigil - A type of drawn magick that puts your intentions of paper. Usually these need to be charged and activated, but once that’s done, they have quite nice effects!

Bottle/Bag Spell - My personal favorite type of spell! These work well if you need a constant effect, and depending on the size of bag or bottle you use can easily be carried with you everywhere. These are very long lasting, don’t need to be charged often, and produce the best effect.

Energy Spell - Probably a more advanced technique, but this is the use of pure energy to put your will into motion. Doing energy spells takes lots of practice and in the early stages can be very unstable in whether they work or not, or whether they’ll completely backfire. This takes patience so don’t give up!

Picking Your Ingredients

Unless you’ve decided on spoken word or prayer alone, you’ll be looking for ingredients next. You don’t need expensive or fancy ingredients, and if you need to you can totally add spices and such from your kitchen ^u^ Think about correspondences carefully, and if you associate something with a feeling or ideal specifically then use it! Things that have personal meanings to yourself can be the most powerful ingredient in any spell.

Here are some of the correspondences I’ve posted about. (If tumblr wasn’t fiddly I would post links, but they’re on my blog in the “My Grimoire” and “My Tips” pages) Herbs and Spices Incense and Oils Common Crystals Colors Flowers Feathers (be mindful of the feathers you pick up, some could get you in legal trouble!)

When To Cast

Once you’ve got all your ingredients together, next thing you’re gonna wanna sit down and figure out when you want to cast your spell. This isn’t always a necessary part, and most spells can be done whenever you feel like, but taking things like Time of Day or the Current Moon Phase into account can really add to (or even take away from) the power of your spell

Here are some simple correspondences for Moon Phase and Time of Day. (I’ll go more in depth in a separate post if enough people show interest)

Moon Phases

New Moon (when there is only the tiniest sliver) - Good for sowing the seeds of new ideas

Waxing Moon - Good for healing, and growing ideas

Full Moon - Best time to perform any sort of spell

Waning Moon - Good for cutting things out of your life

Dark Moon (when the moon is not visible) - Take this time to rest and focus on yourself

Time of Day

1am-3am - Good for communicating with spirits

4am-6am - Good for planting new ideas and fertility

7am-9am - Best time to make offerings to deities or local spirits

10am-12pm - Best time for positivity and growth

1pm-3pm - Good to focus on yourself and your studies

4pm-6pm - Time to harvest and be with family

7pm-9pm - Best time to cut things out of your life

10pm-12am - Good for any magickal workings

Like I said earlier, this stuff isn’t necessary unless you really want that extra ‘umph’ in your magick, so don’t feel like you have to plan it down to a T especially if you’re in a hurry. Only plan if you want to and have the time to.

Organizing and Casting

How are you going to cast the spell? That’s probably one of the hardest parts you’re going to come across if you’re new to spell crafting. You want to think about this part carefully so you get maximum results. I can give some tips ^u^

If you’re combining methods, think about what order you want to put them in. Organize them in a way that flows naturally.

Practice your spell! Set up a play scenario and rehearse your spell a few times to make sure you get it right, and the whole process goes smoothly.

Don’t be afraid to make a mistake though, mistakes are part of life and they always tend to happen when you want them to the least. If your spell doesn’t go perfectly the way you imagined, that’s okay. Intention is what matters.

Keep all your spells in a file or in a book. Keeping records of spells is important if you ever intend to use them again, write everything down from ingredients to how you cast

Dont be afraid to experiment! Especially with random things, that’s how you make your own associations. Making your own associations is how you make a spell even stronger!

Lastly, don’t feel obligated to get fancy or over the top. Spoken word spells can be just as effective as a bottle spell, especially if it’s said every day.

make your next semester better

so your last semester wasn’t as good as you would have liked it to be. 

some classes were good, and some were not. honestly, applying to universities and scholarships and just the stress of trying to get in has been getting to me. it happens to everyone at some point, whether you’re in currently in, pre, or post secondary-school. 

here’s how we’re going to make the next semester better! 

1. have a good first day.

a big mistake is to be hard on yourself on your first day. being disciplined is good, but when you push to hard you will break sooner. wake up as early as you need to be ready, but don’t push yourself to be up at some crazy hour of the morning. set our your stuff the night before so you can have an easy morning. treat yourself to a healthy, delicious breakfast, it’s really important to eat something first thing in the morning to get your brain working. try not to stress yourself out too much, especially if your last semester kinda sucked, and it’s VERY important not to let yourself automatically associate school with negative emotions like fear and stress, because that will paralyze you down the line when things get more difficult closer to exam season, etc.

2. don’t be afraid to drop

when going to all your new classes, really seriously evaluate your ability to succeed in a class with that time slot/professor/etc. and whether or not the class will really benefit you in the future. last semester i took a kinesology class, which has some relevance to what i want to do, but i didn’t need it. after realizing how much studying i was going to need to do, i dropped it so i could focus more on my other classes that i needed to get good grades in. or try and take it again next semester if it fits!

3. limit other activities at first

your first couple weeks of the new semester, cut back on other activities. do what you enjoy and what will ultimately de-stress you, but if you can, cut back on club meetings, or sports practices this will be best until you get back into a good flow. this will help you get used to the pace of all your classes without being stressed out by other things, it helps you reorganize your priorities and put school first

4. try out something new organizationally

typically, i am a very organized person, and being so i like to reorganize and try out different methods with my planners, folders, notebooks, etc. this helps me to keep me on my feet, remembering that i need to make sure i keep track of assignments, test dates, and anything else. try to find a strategy that works for you, and make it work!

so there are my tips, let’s start get this new semester off to a great start! 

me: trying to do schoolwork

my brain: oofjan stevens

so who’s gonna tell him?

How to Never Fall Behind in Classes

Alternatively titled: How to Use Your Planner or How Organization and Discipline Will Get You Better Grades

This is my full guide on how to use your planner effectively and make sure that you are never missing deadlines or falling behind in classwork and homework. This is definitely more about the university level and works best with a dated planner, rather than a bullet journal. Let’s get started! 

Get all of your syllabi together and write down dates. Go through one class at a time and mark down all of your major tests and assignment due dates. I recommend putting these dates into the monthly and weekly views, and perhaps coming up with a symbol or other indicator that tells you they are of utmost importance. 

Make a weekly schedule of when to complete readings and do a weekly review of notes. Instead of trying to randomly decide when to do these things, assign a date for each task for each class. If you have a tutorial on Tuesday, do the assigned readings for it every Wednesday. I recommend scheduling one to two weekly tasks per day, and to leave a few days open, whether it be weekends or days when you have a lot of classes.

Make a master list of assignments. I find that sometimes, even having due dates in the calendar view isn’t enough, and they can still sneak up on you. The master list will be a good place to double check if you have any deadlines approaching easily. 

In the week or so before a due date, create a checklist of smaller tasks needed to complete the assignment. Set individual due dates for each smaller task by working backwards from the due date. Smaller tasks may include finding sources, making an outline, writing a rough draft, and editing and adding references to create a final copy. Write the smaller tasks into your daily to-do list. 

You can also do this with studying for tests, but the checklist would look slightly different. You could either sort by study method (first do flashcards, then do essay outlines, etc.) or sort by the topics you need to study. 

Stick to the schedule you have made. Obviously, if something comes up and you need to move your to-do list around, do so! But if you aren’t doing anything and you see readings on your list of daily tasks.. do them. Having the plan set out like this makes it easier for you to remain disciplined. 

Why use this method? 

By creating a schedule for repeated weekly tasks like completing readings, you make sure that you can’t repeatedly push off smaller tasks until you are weeks behind. I don’t think it is very reliable to just will yourself to do readings, or to keep up with them without tracking it. 

By writing down all of your due dates, you will never be shocked to find out something is due the night before. You will know and you will be prepared. 

By creating smaller checklists of tasks to complete before a major test or assignment, you will never find yourself in a situation where you have an essay due in a few days and haven’t even started. You will be following a timeline and making sure you don’t have to rush.

I know this system may seem rigorous, but planning is the only way you can keep on top of your workload in university! Falling behind is a lot harder if you are organized and disciplined, and being on top of your workload will help you a lot when it comes to exam times… no cramming and all-nighters if you have been consistent all semester! 

Instagram: kitsuneki_

Centering, Grounding, and Shielding

- From my Grimoire

A Preface

Something that I don’t think enough people cover when it comes to The Craft, is how to keep yourself protected when doing spells and rituals, or communicating with spirits. This is a very basic aspect of witchcraft, so I’d like to take a moment to go in depth on the topic to make sure that as many people as possible, can find something that will work for them! Of course though, there will be some methods that I either don’t have experience with or may have simply forgot to mention. Find what works best for you and your practice, and look at some other articles or books as well!

Centering

First off, what is centering? This is basically you preparing yourself and getting in the mindset of doing a spell/ritual. This is taking a moment to yourself to make sure you’re intentions are in the right place, and everything is set up and ready to go. Centering isn’t too difficult to do, so there’s honestly not too much to say on the topic.

Method I like to begin centering with meditation. Relax yourself and get into the “witch headspace”, if you will. Cleanse yourself, and maybe even take a shower or a bath. Next thing is to gather your thoughts, write some questions down on a piece of paper or on your computer and answer them. Things like “What is my motivation?” “What outcome do I want” “How do I want to do this?” If you really take a moment to understand what you’re doing and where your heart lies, your spell will be at it’s most effective.

Grounding

Grounding is an important thing to do after any spell you perform. While it doesn’t necessarily hurt to do before a spell, it can limit your meta-physical performance. Grounding is connecting you back to the earth and bringing you back to your physical body, getting your head out of the clouds if you will, and sometimes when performing a spell that’s where you want your head to be. If you’re working with any earth based magick though, this can greatly help, so just figure out what works best for the kind of spell you’re doing.

Methods

Roots - This is my covens favorite method to ground. This is basically where you have a meditative moment, plant your feet on the ground, and “sink your roots in”. First thing you wanna do is get in some kind of contact with the ground or floor, just anything that is a solid foundation. Plant your hands or feet flat and start by breathing deeply. You wanna really take in the energy from the earth, pay attention to all of your surroundings and take in the moment. Next close your eyes and start focusing your energy at your hands or feet. (You may feel your hands start to tingle or even go mildly numb) Lastly, release that energy and push it into the earth. Let it soak in deep, and if visualization helps, imagine your roots growing down.

Going outside is another very good method to reconnect with the Earth. If at all possible, I like to go outside barefoot and feel the grass on my feet. Really connect to the earth, take in your surroundings and walk around as much as you feel comfortable.

A Dump Stone - Just about any stone will work, but generally stone that come from bodies of water, have holes, or are green or black tend to work the best. Basically just hold the stone in your hand and let any and all negative energy flow out from you into the stone. Stones can handle quite a bit of negative energy so don’t be afraid to let it all come out. After you’re done though, you’re immediately going to want to cleanse your crystal with whichever method works best for you. I prefer to let mine sit in salt overnight, or until the feel done.

Drinking a cold glass of water, splashing cold water on your face, or even taking a really quick cold shower is also a really good way to ground yourself. It’s all about being present in your body, and nothing can bring you back into the now like some cold water can.

Shielding and Wards

Shielding yourself is important when it comes to any kind of magick, because there truly are negative entities and energies out there that like to take advantage of people. It’s a sad truth, but this is why we learn to protect ourselves spiritually. Putting up a shield or ward isn’t difficult, and sometimes you do it without even realizing!

Shielding Methods

Visualization - This is my favorite method to teach beginners because it doesn’t require any tools just you, and yourself. The begin, start by getting into a calm relaxed state, maybe even meditate before hand. Next, imagine a ring of light around yourself starting at your feet. This light can look like anything, be any color, and be any shape so the only limit is your imagination. Once you have the ring of light, imagine it slowly coming up around your body, let it fill your heart with warmth and let it remind you that you are safe spiritually and no negative entity can harm you. Once it has made a complete bubble around yourself, say some affirmations and remind yourself that you’re strong and can handle anything. The more you believe in yourself, then the stronger this shield will become. 

Smoky Quartz or any other black stone, when kept on the person or placed at the feet can create a ward as well. For those less imaginative, this is a very good alternative because you have the crystal to support you as well. 

Magick Circle - There are many ways to open a magick circle, but heres a really simple method. Hold one of your hands out, palm up and focus your energy in your hand. (You may get that warm, tingly, or numb feeling, if not though thats okay!) Really let it bubble up into your fingertips, and once there, point a finger out and draw a circle around yourself and say some simple affirmations of safety and peace. Just like the visualization method, this works best the more you have faith and believe in yourself. 

Simply stating that you are, or feel safe is another way to shield yourself spiritually. You remember how when you were little and alone in your room at night and you thought you heard something scary? You covered your head up with a blanket right? Do you remember how safe you felt after doing that, like how nothing could get you? That was quite literally you putting up a shield. Remember your intentions and feelings are the most important thing in magick, always keep that in mind!

Warding Methods Wards are another variation of shields, but these are things you put on the physical plane rather than a spiritual one. 

Runes/Sigils - A really good way to set up a ward is to carve or draw some runes either into the side of a doorframe, a candle, or even on a piece of paper to burn later! If you’re going to carve them into wood or draw them, charge the tool you’re going to be doing it with. If your going to use a candle, burn the candle whenever you feel like you need it most! And as for burning paper, keep the ashed around and maybe even sprinkle them into every corner of the room.

Salt - Put lines of salt on the top of your door and window frames, and sprinkle some in every corner of the room.

Stones - Certain stones are said to be warning stones and will break if danger is near by. Malachite is one of these stones, and is fairly easy to get your hands on. Place this stone above door and window frames as well. 

Holy/Blessed Water - A drop placed in every corner of the room creates a barrier around the room.

Brooms/Staffs - Place in the corners of rooms, and said to fall over if danger is near by.

Black Candles - Burning a black candle is said to bring protection and keep a room hidden from spirits. 

omshgdhasgd my baby is trending UwU

awesome things to look forward to at college and university

strolling through the beautiful campuses

getting the opportunity to study what you want

being surrounded by inspiring academics with years or wisdom

speaking with these intellectuals as their equals and colleagues

meeting people from all different cultures and backgrounds

making friends with whoever you want

ditching the fakes and the bullies

relishing catch ups with special high school besties

intellectual discussions with people from all walks of life

commiserating together with everyone over the workload

flexible class timetables and days off

learning things that you’ll use everyday in your career

knowing that you’re investing in the future

having hundreds of clubs and societies to join

discovering that there’s someone in the same boat as you

experiencing dorm life and late night parties

experimenting with new styles

understanding what sort of citizen you want to become

being surrounded by people who are as passionate as you

learning to seek evidence and proof for all questions in life

motivating yourself by seeing your own hard-earned GPA/WAM

laughing with friends about the people who are still jerks even in uni

understanding things you’ve never thought you’d understand

learning concepts your way with your own study methods

studying in libraries that are several storeys high

utilising your bullet journal to its full potential to stay organised

joining the gym and reaching that level of fitness you’ve always aspired to

despite the hard work and long hours, there’s a lot to things to love! add things you love about uni and keep the comments positive! :)

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Update: Links fixed!