#and I feel like I was gatekept from sports for so long because of my body

[spock-smokes-weed]

So I’m trying to pick up running, and I just finished my second run and with trying to pick up this hobby it’s really starting to sink in how fucked up middle and high school gym was.

Like I know middle and high school gym is fucked up, but now that I’m finding some enjoyment in running, it really puts into perspective how fucking cruel running the mile was.

Because making a bunch of teenagers run a mile when they’ve had zero training, all while timing them and tell them how gross and unhealthy they.

I remember how much I HATED the mile run because it hurt. It hurt so bad, like my sides and throat would burn the whole time but there was no way to get out of it. Gym class creates such a toxic relationship between children and exercise, that only now at 20 am I starting to break down.

Running used to terrify me but now it’s fun, the biggest reason being is that I can pace myself and give myself my own limits. I’m not having someone timing me and scrutinizing how winded I am or how long I took. It’s seriously fucking twisted what we expect of these kids who are not prepared to run for that much distance. Gym class I think is the biggest reason I believe for so long that some ppl are just “naturally” athletic, and not that everyone can be athletic within their own right. Because we were not taught how to build up strength in any given activity, you were just told to do it and if you couldn’t you were shamed for being unhealthy.

Just such a great way to make kids have a bad relationship with their bodies and exercise.

[thesharkbaitspellbook]

Fitness Magic

Fitness Magic

Fitness Magic is simply the magic related to the physical fitness/physical body care and physical activity/movement of the body for magical purposes. Gym life, and physical activity is quite a big part of my everyday. So, I wanted to deep dive on giving a extra magical meaning beyond a devotional act. I have been on a journey with fitness for a very long time. And it is a balance. Like anything there are both healthy and unhealthy manifestations of this. Being too obsessed with the gym and how your body looks can lead to very unhealthy habits and self image issues. These things are not helped by our current societal beauty standards but this is where the balance needs to form. Its okay to want to look better while doing something good for your health and body. But that's exactly the mindset you need to keep. It's for your body's health and preservation. Perfect bodies do not exist and all bodies are summer bodies. Full Stop. The other thing I want to make abundantly clear is any form of physical activity can apply here. Anything that fits your needs and abilities. From heavy weightlifting, walking, cycling, stretching, western form of yoga, classes, swimming, dance, arm circles only, walking across your home…. anything. You do not need a gym. I am of the belief that physical fitness and physical activity is available to anyone who wants to do it. It shouldn't be some gatekept intimidating thing. What I mean is if you want to, you can. and there is something for every level. The other part of this is, if you are a little unsure of what you can do or should do, consult a doctor. Personal trainers are great but they are not doctors. Your health is important and please take your doctors recs and not some random influencer on the internet. Every body is unique and has different needs.

Themes

Self Love/Care: This is… or should be… a big part of this journey. Do it for you, your health, your spirit. This is a part of my self care routine. Doing even light activity can help with the image and feelings of our bodies. Especially as you start to see progress. Like if you start lifting you'll start pretty low, and then BAM, holy poop I didn't know I could be this strong. Makes you feel good about your body and proud of it.

Healing: I'm including healing because I personally find the physical activity healing for the mind, body, AND soul. Of course there is also a physical healing aspect like physical therapy and such. However there are numerous studies expressing the mental benefits as well.

Grounding/Connection to the Body: I find exercise and stretching is a great way to ground and connect to your body. A way to balance the input/output of energy. Have extra energy to spare, go to failure, need more energy, slow down to slow and intentional movements.

Meditation: This is honestly my favorite meditation method.

Energy: The energy produced is KEY for this magical take on fitness. Pride, Excursion, Sweat, Dopamine, Noradrenaline, Serotonin, "Runners High"… I will go into detail on how to use aspect later.

Fun: Exercise should be fun and not a chore. Feeling like a chore will make you not want to do it so finding something you can enjoy is absolutely a key factor.

Community: Gyms, sports teams, classes, online accountability groups are their own little communities. Community can help us be consistent and stick to it even if it gets super hard or you fall into a plateau or other mental dip in continuing.

Strength: Building strength might seem like an obvious theme, although it is down on the list because strength is not everyone's goal in going into fitness sphere's.

Endurance: Like Strength, this might seem obvious but it is not. This is not everyone's goal.

Body Affirming: Needing a little boost in connecting to your body and presenting as you would like? This can be a benefit and impact on why fitness is am interest.

How does it work?

Well, there are a few different ways to think about this. The first one is the use of the energy. The other main way is adding other types of magic into your fitness routine or just a single session. One other main way you will see fitness used, is as a devotional act to a spirit, deity, or entity. Lets go through a few of them.

Energy Input/Output and Visualization

The inspiration I got for this actually came out of sex magic. In sex magic the general idea is that the peak feeling of an orgasm is used to manifest/visualize the desired output, putting that out into the web of fate for it to come around. Well, a similar thing can be done in this context. For example, pushing those final reps creates and similar mindset of pushing through and pushing that energy out of your body. Another example would be in dance or stretching and putting that energy and intention into your physical movements. There are several ways to emphasize your intention but truly the imagination is the limit.

Types of Workings to Include

Self Improvement: Not just physical improvement. Really I think any self improvement intention could be applied here.

Healing, and Letting go: Physical movement is a great outlet for a multitude of emotions. Anger, Sadness, Frustration, etc. Personally this is also how I've dealt with processing trauma. It gives me time to think and put the resulting emotions into something good. (Always see a therapist and get professional help but I find it can help in conjunction). Physical healing has been mentioned, but I'm going to say it again lol. My experience has been healing torn and damaged muscles through my various sports and training activities.

Strength: Inner, outer, mental, emotional strength. Enough said.

Happiness/Joy: Science researchers tell us exercising boosts those good chemicals in our brain and I am not above using that in a magical sense too. Attract that happiness into your daily life.

Affirmations: Repeat them during sets, reps, breath exercises or chucks of movement.

Manifestations: You don't want to know how many times I've been on the chest press bench like "I will get this fucking house, I will get this fucking house" while buying a home lol.

Cleansing: Similar to healing, but taking a step further I am a fan of cleansing and literally sweating out what you need to get off of you. I find this even useful in terms of getting rid of things like evil eye and such.

Glamor: Physical appearance can be mentioned here but also things like "I am perceived as strong"

Flexibility: Things like dance, yoga, water aerobics help with the physical flexibility of the body… but what you need you or someone else to bend just a wee bit for whatever reason. Bend not break, important distinction.

Self Love: Love yourselves beautifuls. Your body and mind is capable of great things no matter your level. Connect and tap into that. 💕

Types of Magic to Include

Kitchen Magic: This is a bigger aspect than most people might realize. To exercise and move the way you want to, you have to have the proper fuel in your body. And that fuel varies and differs my person. But incorporating food and healing the relationship with modern food is absolutely part of a fitness journey and realm. Beyond food, there are so many vitamins, protein powders, pre-workouts, supplements, etc. that people incorporate into their fitness journey. The type, flavor, milks used, proteins, vitamins all will have different correspondences in what can be added into workings and intentions.

Color Magic/Rainbowmancy: Use your colors in what you wear, equipment, and drink from. In my case this can even include flag and tape color i use when I want to tap back into Colorguard movements.

Sigils: Draw on you, your equipment, stitch onto things, stand on to manifest, dance with the movement/move the flag/wand/baton/hoop/etc in the shape.

Divination: Here are just a few that could be utilized

Zygomancy: by weights

Nephomancy: by clouds

Fructomancy/fructimancy: by fruit

Drimimancy/drymimancy: by bodily fluids

Alveromancy: by sounds

Ambulomancy: by walking

Numerology: Numbers of reps, sets, exercises, dance counts, day, time, etc.

Lunar Magic: You can line up the routine based on the moon, use moon water in your pre-workout/plain/protein.

Cycles/Menstruation: If you are a uterus owner… your exercise might be dictated by your cycle. For example the week before you bleed things tend to seem HEAVY for no reason. This doesn't mean you lost strength, your body just said "not today maybe".

Mediation: The motions almost force you to focus on the breath, moves, and that can flip your brain into a meditative state.

Coffee/Tea/Brew Magic: For all your brewing needs… protein coffee is a staple for me to no ones surprise.

Art and Music: Dance and similar activities are arts in themselves so I think it's important to include. In the same vein, music played no matter the exercise can absolutely boost vibes and intentions.

Tools

Weights/bands/barbells/ankle weights/really any equipment needed

Shaker bottles (gym girlies… if you know, you know… they take over your house)

Protein powders/pre-workout powders/stimulant supplements

Active wear/Shoes (Clothes are also great tools to just make you feel good and cute while doing what you need to)

Yoga mat

Weight gloves

Towels

WATER BOTTLES

Massagers

Saunas/Ice Baths

Ideas

Embroider a sigil on my weight lifting gloves for strength and endurance

Wear my Mjolnir for Thor

Stir in intention and enchant the pre-workout. (also have drawn sigils on my shaker bottles)

Color magic with workout sets

Stick a sigil or written intentions in my shoe while doing cardio

Let out that stress while lifting… like breathing exercises (safely) while pushing those reps

Numerology intention with rep and set choice. (currently I do about 7 sets of 9 reps for lower weight and 4 sets of 7 reps for higher)

Mantras are your friend to gather motivation and self empowerment.

Take those vitamins with a blessing and/or prayer

When I stretch after a hard session I go into like a meditation/trance mode and do a light body exercise to feel how my body is feeling. (I get hella good results here)

If you take a shower or soak after let the sweat and water rinse off the stress you just got rid off.

Visualize while active (if you can't just think about the intention)

Devote a set or entire workout to a spirit of choice

Create a goal/mood board for goal manifestation

Run for a cause (5ks and such)

I workout in the morning, so omelets are the perfect post-workout breakfast and you can do so much with the veggies and ingredients used.

Power Smoothies!!

Protein milkshakes are something I love

Spirits to Work With

Deities

This is definitely not a comprehensive list. Really think of deities related to well-being, health, improvement, modern gym, olympic style game deities, warrior/training beings. Things like that would all apply here. Or any other correspondences to any form of physical health you are focusing on.

Thor: Norse god of Lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, and fertility.

Ullr: Norse god of Archery, snow, and hunting. He was said to have superior skiing and skating abilities,

Freyja: Norse goddess of love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold

Skadi: Norse goddess of bowhunting, skiing, winter, and mountains.

Athena: Greek Goddess of wisdom, craft, and warfare

Artemis: Greek goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity

The Morrigan: Irish Goddess of war among other things depending on aspect

Beelzebub: Sin of Gluttony… can help with food balance

Belphegor: Sin of Sloth, can help with motivation

Lucifer: Sin of Pride

Satan: Sin of Wrath, channel the anger and has war and training aspects

Aphrodite: Greek goddess of love, sex, war and beauty

Odin: Norse God of war, wisdom,

Hermes: Greek god of trade, wealth, luck, fertility, animal husbandry, sleep, language, thieves, and travel. Some consider him a protector of human kind

Hercules: Greek figures of strength and heros

Ares: Greek god of war or, more properly, the spirit of battle, and courage

Sobek: Egyptian god associated with pharaonic power, fertility, and military prowess, but served additionally as a protective deity

Lugh: Irish God of light, justice, warriors, wisdom

Nike: Greek goddess of victory, both in regards to war and friendly competition (and literally has an athletic brand using her name lol)

Spirits/Archetypes

Gladiators

Warriors

Gym bros/bras (literally saw someone use Dwayne "the rock" as an archetype)

The gym/equipment spirits (animism applies)

If you are into pop culture stuff, superhero's/comic characters

More posts:

Protein Shake Correspondences

[abdicatedarchive]

the same seat || cody and charlie

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍: summer’s lake house // summer 2021.

𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: cody x charlie.

𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒: suicide mention.

𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐒: cody is thinking about his life, and charlie comes to give some helpful advice.

He took off running before he had even fully exited the house. Grabbing a cold bottle of water from the fridge he took off to his favorite path. Cody loved the lake house. It had always been good to him. Except the times it hadn't, but he didn't want to think about that right now. After running a ways, he tucked into the trees and down towards the cliff he liked to sit on. When he was a kid: him and Charlie had discovered this little area as they played knights. Charlie always got to be the king. He was older. But now Cody came out here when he needed to think. He stood at the edge, and thought about how long it had been since he was here and he was wrecked. Once the breakup had happened, his dad had let him come out here on his own. He stayed in the house for days, letting himself rot away.

[FOUR YEARS AGO] Cody sat on the edge of the cliff, watching rocks plop down to the water. He felt so fucking worthless. Like no one could ever be bothered. His dad was kind enough to let him out of the house, to give him a place to grieve his relationship, but he hadn't thought to come with. No one had thought to reach out, and he was able to just ... be alone. For a house full of people, Cody was lonely. He didn't have friends. No one was checking on him. People didn't care. Everyone was so consumed with their own shit that they didn't even notice that he was gone. Then he thought about how he hadn't cared about anyone but Alexandra for the last year. How he was never there for those people that he called friends. No wonder they didn't want to be there for him. Cody fucking sucked. Just another Summers that's not Charlie. He wasn't going to let anyone in like that again. He felt so stupid for opening up like that. Letting someone hold his heart in their hands, it was pointless and he was broken.

Cody tossed a rock into the water before sitting down on the familiar and worn down stoop. Like people had been coming out here for decades to think about everything. He wondered if his dad had ever sat out here. If Charlie had. If his grandfather had. That's when he heard someone coming in the distance.

Charlie was headed out to his favorite thinking spot. This might be one of his favorite places in the world, he had proposed to Alice on the dock. They had spent a great weekend out here, and before he knew it they were going to be married. He was going to be Mr. Alice Altman and that brought a smile to his face. But he wanted to visit his old favorite spot, the place he went to whenever he was mad or sad. Sometimes when you're so happy you look at the relics from when your life was falling apart and smile because it just got so much better. That's when he saw his brother, a carbon copy of him. Sitting on that same stoop. "Hey kid, do I have to tell you not to jump?" said Charlie with a smile. Cody was probably just taking a break. There was no reason to be genuine in these moments. Then he saw the expression on his face, and switched tone. Charlie popped a squat next to his brother, Cody moving to make room for him on the edge. "Trouble in paradise?" said Charlie looking over at his brother, "this is kind of the shitty life hangout. Don't tell me this morning had that much of an effect on you. We just wanted to bust your balls a little"

Cody tried to buck up when he realized it was Charlie, but he was so stressed thinking about how his parents were only happy now that he was with Bella. Like a nonverbal agreement that he would be a good person. Like he wasn't one to begin with. Like he wasn't enough for them because he wasn't Charlie. "You wouldn't get it, your life is a little to perfect for you to get it" said Cody as he gatekept his emotions. There was no way that Charlie would understand anything. Charlie and Alice had basically had the love story of a lifetime. Childhood friends and also forbidden loves. Then they had spent all of college together, still making time for friends and school and sports. They had their whole life planned out and then everything went according to plan. Nothing went wrong for them.

Clearly, Cody didn't remember the long road it took for him and Alice to get to where they were. Or that fun year where Charlie wore eyeliner and was uncomfortably emo. To be fair, Charlie had spent a lot of that existence in his room and then funny enough ... in France. "My life is not perfect. I work with my least favorite person in the world. I spent college constantly worrying I was letting people down by not being able to put enough time or attention into anything because I spread myself too thin. Not to mention I spent high school avoiding parents, shipped myself to France, and definitely missed my first ten shots with the love of my life" Charlie explained as he threw a rock as far as he could, watching it splash in the distance. "I spent a lot of time out here angry at the world, just throwing shit because I didn't know how to handle anything" said the boy as he looked at the horizon in the distance. He remembered back when he would sit here, his eyes burning from crying, yelling into the void while looking at the same horizon. It wasn't so scary these days. He had a lot to live for. And a lot less to be angry at. "The thing is, I don't think she would be the love of my life if I had taken any of those shots. I needed to sit out here and be really angry at the world for doing me dirty when it was just life"

In moments like these, Cody was reminded that he knew just as much about Charlie as anyone else in town did. Which is that he knew what Charlie wanted people to know: that he was in love, that he was good looking and successful at a young age, and that he cared about people. Cody grew up by his side, but the person next to him was a stranger. "I really thought A.P. was the one. That she was my Alice" said Cody in a moment of honesty. He didn't want to think about how badly she played him. How she just wanted a little pet project and how she cut him off from the rest of the world. How he had started to treat people because she put rose colored glasses on being the most envied person in the room. That he thought people needed to be a little terrified of you for you to have it all. If people aren't jealous then you aren't doing enough.

Charlie couldn't believe he was still on the A.P. thing. It had been four years. Cody had definitely dated since then ... but before Bella. Right? Charlie realized in that moment that he had no idea if Cody was dating any of those guys or girls at family functions. He didn't really remember them, they were never at the next one. Their parents were never too pleased either. "But things with Bella are good?" said Charlie, "and no one is going to be your Alice. There is only one. Again, please don't jump". Charlie didn't know that his life had had such an impact on Cody's expectations on life. He felt kinda guilty for never being around, it was just that the house was so toxic when him and Alice weren't allowed to see each other. So he was gone as much as he could be. It was just easier. Now he got that it wasn't easy for everyone when he made those choices.

Cody took a deep breath, "you can't tell parents or any of your friends. You can tell Alice but she cannot tell Katie. If you don't think she can handle that then you can't tell her. Brothers honor" said Cody before shaking Charlie's hand. When they were children and had an argument, their dad always made them have a gentleman's agreement which essentially just meant a handshake. So they shook hands, Cody thought he was going to out the secret in that moment. But he found his lips lying for him, "I don't think I love her. I feel like shit, I shouldn't be allowed to date. I might be a robot at this point" said Cody, it wasn't all a lie. He didn't think he was capable of love at this point. Whatever he felt for Alexandra Preston was not love. It was a trick of the mind, and he wasn't sure he would ever get there. Not that he would let himself love Bella even if he wanted to. Good thing he didn't want it.

Charlie put a hand on Cody's shoulder, "just give it time. I see the way you looked at her this morning. There was something there. Love doesn't come rushing in, it gets you slowly" said Charlie, "but I will leave you to be angry and sad at the world for doing you dirty". Charlie knew the world wasn't doing him dirty, it was just life. But that was for Cody to understand with time. "Take care of yourself, and if that means having someone in your life that cares about you like that ... keep her around" said the boy as he got off the ground and headed back towards the lake house.

Something there this morning? When they were both about to commit a murder? Charlie's social skills had really taken a dip. Cody took a deep breath though, "thanks man" he said, thankful that his brother was checking on him. Someone was checking in, someone cared. And it was all because of Bella. She made all of this without even trying. He threw a rock instead of just letting it drop, seeing the ripples in the water. That was like the effect of dating her. Rippling into different parts of his life that he wasn't even expecting, not that he even wanted to be in the room with her right now. She made him want to scream. // END