#intermediate to advanced

[dokushoclub]

Where to get books with furigana

Reading novels in Japanese can be a real challenge if your reading flow comes to a stop every time you encounter a kanji you can’t read, so getting a book with 100% furigana can help cutting back on that frustration.

There are several Japanese publishers with a younger target audience, whose books all have furigana on every kanji while still presenting complex and interesting stories about 150 – 300 pages long.

They are my top recommendation for all intermediate readers, who already have experience with graded readers, easy childrens stories or manga, but have yet to read a longer novel aimed at native speakers.

講談社青い鳥文庫 – Kōdansha Aoi Tori Bunko

集英社みらい文庫 – Shūeisha Mirai Bunko

角川つばさ文庫 – Kadokawa Tsubasa Bunko

小学館ジュニア文庫 - Shōgakukan Junior Bunko

双葉社ジュニア文庫 – Futabasha Junior Bunko

静山社ペガサス文庫 – Seizansha Pegasus Bunko

TOジュニア文庫 – TO Junior Bunko

You will recognize them easily by their colorful frames around the covers and they include popular anime movies like 君の名は。novelisations of anime series or disney movies, light novels and even the Harry Potter books.

I go into more detail about my recommendations for each publisher on my blog.

[ghirahimbo]

quick plug for the Spanish Boost YouTube account if you're a beginner/intermediate Spanish learner looking for comprehensible input (slow, easier to follow speech). I've mostly been watching the Minecraft videos so far (eyeing the Stardew Valley series 👀) but they've been just about perfect for my learning level, and it's fun because it's the kind of stuff I'd be watching on YouTube anyway

[prismonautic]

Let’s Discuss: Energetic Cleansing

Let’s get some clarifying details out the way before we get into the material.

This article assumes that you already know + can execute the basics of energy work without the hang-ups that a beginner would get stuck on.

It’s not going to hold your hand discussing theories about energy, the astral realm, etc. Intermediate practitioners are the target audience for this passage.

Don’t know if you’re intermediate or a beginner? Here’s a difficulty benchmark for this article:

Do you know how to safely cast a functional + effective spell without having to be supervised by an elder for safety?

Are you able to direct and cast that energy with absolute confidence in your ability to do so?

If yes to both, this article is relevant to your skill level.

If no to either:

You can use this article as study material to go over with a spiritual elder.

If you’re a solitary practitioner, use this article as supplemental material for your research under your own discretion.

If you’re a complete beginner and feel like you’re going to end up with more questions than answers, continue doing more research + practice on the basics and save this for later when you feel ready.

Now that we’ve gotten those important details out the way, we’ll begin our discussion.

About cleansing

“Spiritual cleansing” is a term frequently thrown around in witchy and spiritualist spaces alike. “Energetic cleansing” is commonly used interchangeably with “spiritual cleansing.”

The general definition of cleansing is removing/clearing any energy that’s considered “negative” or “toxic” – which in turn causes spiritual blockages that could hinder manifestations, health, growth, prosperity, etc.

It’s a broad definition. For practical application of cleansing in your craft, I want to offer some extra details that can support you in crafting your cleansing works.

Factors to consider in your cleansing works

Why you’re cleansing depends on the situation. Sometimes you need a sterile environment for raising a specific energy in your circle. Other times, you’re aiming to “reset” the ambience of a space (e.g - after a house party, you cleanse any lingering foreign energies that have been brought in by your guests.)

The form of your cleansing rituals will depend on the following factors:

What energy you’re intending to cleanse / “wash” away

The subject you’re directing cleansing energy to (e.g talisman, room, shoes) + your relationship to the subject AND the energy that you’re cleansing away.

The magnitude (power) of the energy you’re trying to cleanse away.

Depending on what you’re facing, you could end up with a simple cleansing ritual, or a more aggressive and targeted ritual. We’ll go over the factors in detail.

– What energy you’re intending to cleanse / “wash” away

A lot of power lies in names. Naming a person, naming a phenomenon, naming an energy… a name can reveal a lot of context and information you wouldn’t be able to get otherwise.

The clearer you name an energy you’re trying to cleanse away, the more effective that the cleansing will get. Even if you don’t know the name of what you’re trying to cleanse away, describing its presence, physical manifestations, and energy signature is enough to distinguish it from just any other energy around you.

Identification of what you’re working with allows you to better understand:

Your relationship to that energy (harmonious? chaotic? stable? unpredictable?)

The magnitude of that energy (how pervasive its energy is astrally AND physically)

How that energy affects the subject (which you should take into consideration while crafting your cleansing!)

Not only does it help with the above, distinguishing the negative/undesired energy will help you have a better time with your recordkeeping. Whether you keep note of your rituals through a notebook, binder, or online journal, having specific energies charted down can help you recognize symptoms of its presence again.

(A rather loose) Example: Natalie is moving into a new apartment, and she feels an unsettling heaviness in the master bedroom. She can’t tell if the heaviness is an entity, or residual energy from an event that happened before she moved in – nobody mentioned anything about someone dying here or anything…

Regardless, she sets out to investigate for an answer on how to clear it up. After taking necessary precautions (insert Natalie doing a protection prayer here), she stays in the room to observe what emotions and sensations come up. She records the following:

The longer she sits there, an unexplainable feeling of bleakness comes up.

The room feels like it’s closing in, almost suffocating.

She doesn’t pick up any usual signs of an active entity inhabiting a space.

Based on the observations she made (+ if applicable, any input from her ancestors / guides) she concludes that the dense energy she’s feeling is residual emotional energy that has culminated over time in this space. After determining this amount of information is enough, she labels this specific heaviness as “this room’s emotional past.”

Now that she has successfully identified + named the specific energy she’s wanting to clear away, she can move on to crafting the cleansing energy she will cast within this room.

Now, think about the last time you cleansed the energy of a space. At that moment, you were Natalie.

How did you handle it?

What did you use to distinguish that undesirable energy from everything else?

What did you use to record your findings about that energy? Was the energy ever recurrent?

If you have a solid grasp on this part, we’re moving on to the next one.

– The subject you’re directing cleansing energy to (e.g talisman, room, shoes) + your relationship to the subject AND the energy that you’re cleansing away.

It’s important to recognize the subject that you’re directing cleansing energy to, since you want to ensure that your cleansing energy isn’t interfered with / nullified by other forces. With recognizing the subject, you’re also tasked with the duty of acknowledging your relationship to the subject.

If you’re cleansing something like your house, something filled with your own personal energy – you likely don’t have to worry about anything getting in between your cleansing ritual unless you’re dealing with more extreme circumstances (e.g possession, haunting, etc..).

If you’re cleansing something that has heavy past energetic/spiritual ties to another’s energy, you’ll want to make sure you read the energy of that subject thoroughly to ensure that you’re sending the proper amount and type of energy necessary to cleanse away your undesired energies.

Due to how situational energetic ties to specific subjects are, it’s better for me to give factors for you to consider when crafting your cleansing spell.

Consider your relationship to any existing history with the subject (e.g if you were cleansing a talisman, are you initiated within the tradition / culture necessary for you to work with said energy?)

Note any prominent energy signatures you pick up within the subject.

Note any prominent spirits and archetypes related to the subject, along with you / your cleansing energy’s relationship to it.

If you pick up any energetic points that give off high activity (abnormally high amounts of a specific type of energy, or in some cases some energetic points acting like a portal) note that down as well.

Use all the recorded details to come to a conclusion about how to effectively counter (which in turn, allows you to cleanse) said factors in your cleansing spell.

– The magnitude (power) of the energy you’re trying to cleanse away.

The main reason I wanted to point out magnitude is because I know that there are a lot of practitioners out here doing the work in the mud for their communities – for this group of people, it’s easy for them to come across heavy energies that are way too difficult and potentially unsafe for the average practitioner to address. For example:

Situations where ancestral curses run DEEP in the energetic field of your subject.

Subjects where extreme trauma + ill intentions (murder, sexual assault, suicide, etc) are significant in their signature.

When you start practicing outside of your daily life, you get exposed to just how fucked up reality can get + just how malicious entities can be. It's important to know your depths and what you’re able to handle.

Do NOT entangle yourself in any energetic situations that you know little about.

I’ve observed that when this happens, it’s usually because someone else dragged them into it (whether it be intentionally or not).

Know your limits, educate yourself on what you’re entering, and double down on your protections.

If you’re being initiated into something, make sure to get the “fine print” of what you’re truly getting yourself into.

If you find yourself becoming overwhelmed by specific energies to the point that it’s affecting your physical wellbeing, STOP and withdraw to recover ASAP.

Keep your protections, spiritual hygiene, and energetic cords updated and strictly moderated, especially if you are frequently involved with any work that regularly requires tapping into external/foreign energies. Staying on top of spiritual hygiene is a given, but the severity in consequences varies by the practitioner’s activities. Slacking can be a minimal issue for some, but a devastating mistake for others.

Conclusion

Feel free to use this as a general reference when crafting your cleansing works, or a little checklist to see if you’ve covered all the cornerstones that you’ve needed. Hopefully this document serves you well.

XOXO, PRISMO <3

[theborzoiarebackintown]

Krampus earned his very first title yesterday, proving even empty headed dumb cute boys can learn up to ten simple tricks!

[rigelmejo]

In honor of yet again seeing on reddit "how do I learn a language?"

I made a longer post on it. But the absolute shortest advice I have is: pick a study material and study plan and STICK TO IT. Ideally pick a study material/materials that teach you some new stuff regularly, and progress through them. Once in a while, review what you've studied either with that material or practicing what you learned by immersing (reading/watching/listening to something or chatting with someone in the language). Ideally pick a study material/materials which teach you the skills you wish to learn - reading, listening, speaking, writing. You may need to be creative to make up ways to use your study material/materials to study those 4 skills (or whichever ones you want to focus on). If you take a traditional class, generally the teacher will give you exercises to practice and study each of the 4 skills. If you need to, look up how other people use textbooks to study the 4 skills and copy what they do.

A mistake many people make is just... not finishing the study material they pick. Yeah, if you only ever study 100 words... 4 chapters of a beginner book... you'll remain a beginner. You must move forward. Study some new stuff regularly. Expand what you know over time.

Stick to your chosen study materials until you finish them, then pick a new study material that TEACHES YOU NEW STUFF. So if you just finished Assimil, don't start a Teach Yourself book as they teach the same stuff! Move onto an intermediate learning material after you finish a beginner material!

Do not repeatedly study various beginner materials for years. This is a mistake many people make, myself included. You need to keep picking study materials which teach you NEW stuff.

Good options for someone who struggles to pick study materials or get past the beginner stage: formal classes!!!! Take beginner 1 and 2, intermediate 1 and 2! There's free and cheap courses on Coursera and other online class sites, if you don't want to go to college and pay for courses. Or pick a series of textbooks learners use in classes - f9r beginner 1 and 2, intermediate 1 and 2. This could look like Chinese textbooks that teach HSK 1-6, or Japanese Textbooks that Teach N5-N1. Yes lots of people don't like "traditional study." But if you struggle to figure out how to improve, doing up to intermediate 2 classes then just practicing reading, listening, and chatting with people will teach you enough to do many things in the language. Intermediate 2 will prepare you enough to understand SOME shows, some reading materials, talk about conversational topics.

Alternative good options for beginners who struggle to pick a study material: pick a study method or approach and copy it. Do exactly what it says, progress through it regularly studying new stuff. Refold is a study approach with directions "do anki cards - usually premade sentence decks for a language (study new stuff regularly), and immerse regularly - practice understanding". So if you like Refold, look up Refold for the language you're learning and use the resources it recommends. (I suggest NOT making your own study materials such as your own anki sentence cards if you are bad at self motivating and making your own study materials as this could cause you to give up). Dreaming Spanish is a Great comprehensible input approach to language learning with a guide on the website to follow and lessons to follow for 1000 hours and directions on what to do after. It also has a community that mentions what resources they used like podcasts, and you can copy what others did. You like ALG and are learning Thai? There's youtube channels with ALG lessons and ALG tutor/teaching websites you can book lessons on. Just pick a study approach and STICK TO IT.

As long as you study new stuff regularly, and practice understanding the things you have studied before, you will learn a language. It mostly comes down to that, and how many hours you study.

Some people just keep repeatedly studying stuff they already studied so they don't make progress, or they studied 50 hours when... its probably going to take hundreds or thousands of hours.

If you like a very specific study method for a very specific goal? Find someone who already achieved your goal with your study method, and copy what they did. Use the materials they used (or improve on what they did and find equivalent materials that work better for you). Do the study activities they did. You have a good chance of getting similar results. That's how I came up with all my reading study plans... I found someone who'd already learned to read chinese, or french, and copied what they did. It worked. I'm using Dreaming Spanish as a guide now to figure out how to improve my listening skills, copying the suggestions dreaming spanish has for studying, its working well so far. I found the Listening Reading Method really cool, and copied that for a while, and did see significant improvements in my reading and listening skill after doing it.

[psychopomp-recital]

I try to not say never in my practice.

The reason being is that most practices will grow and change.

A year ago would I have thought my death practice would shift to a death and life duality based practice? No!

When I began worshipping the old gods of Ireland would I have ever thought that I would now be testing the waters of helpol as well? No!

It’s important to allow yourself the opportunity and freedom to change. If you say never then you are going to limit yourself. I promise you it is alright if your practice shifts away from what it was. Your path should grow as you do, not tie you down.

-

All my love, Psychopomp.

[shivunin]

If you had to pick 5 fics you’ve written to make a “crash course” and sum up your writing personality, which would they be?

Oooh thank you so much for asking! <3 I had to ponder this a bit, but here's what I think:

I love angst/confronting your feelings at the moment your loved one faces mortal peril so Only Ghosts (4,267 Words). It's all the tasty Zevran/Wen feelings after she takes a deadly wound in the Deep Roads.

I have to include As Two Reflected Stars (12,429 words) because I also love hurt/comfort and tracing the role a specific habit or occurrence has in character growth over time. In this case, healing.

Internal conflict is (I think!) one of my specialties so I offer up Only a Kiss (1,215 Words), the first thing I ever wrote for Wen and Zevran. Wen is always such a treat to write because so much goes unspoken with her, but I feel like this is a peak example of her warring with herself.

I also consider tropes I don't love a little puzzle to unwrap for myself, so next is Search Your Hands (13,581 words). I wrote it as a silly little story about cultural misunderstandings between Cullen and Lavellan. It wound up being a more well-liked fic than most of mine, which surprised me a lot!

Aaaand last but not least I will always be a sucker for unspoken feelings, idiots in love, and romantic tension, so Summer Tea (897 Words) with Elowen and Cullen. These two are the worst at making that first move with each other but it's so fun to write the lead-up.

[galaxywhale]

online crochet spaces can be so damn frustrating sometimes with how common it is to see people refusing to put any effort into learning a new skill while learning new skill, like the number of people I see refusing to even consider trying to learn to read a pattern because “it looks confusing :((”absolutely infuriating lol

[fungusqueen]

i'm starting a spanish class tomorrow, they assigned some pre-class homework and the first exercise was easy peasy, but the other two were kind of hard. there's this weird indescribable feeling when venturing into uncharted learning territory...like i'm confronted with how much I don't know (if I take an uncompassionate approach to this, it's like i'm struck by my own stupidity and i feel so lost) but then it becomes a challenge that can be solved with time and dedication....so I've been wondering all my life when/if I'll ever feel comfortable calling myself bilingual but i'm so sick of learning at a slow pace and not asking for even more help than i've had (I need more help to become fluent, my friends have been helping me but I need something rigorous), i just want to be bilingual already so i'm trying to make this happen haha

[dokushoclub]

Short Story Collections for Learning Japanese

Short stories are very popular with language learners – and rightly so. Being able to finish even a short tale aimed at native speakers will feel like a great accomplishment.

I had a look at three approaches for intermediate and advanced learners to enjoy Japanese short stories. For each I can also recommend a few matching short story collections:

Short Stories in Easy Japanese

Japanese Short Stories with English Annotations

Parallel Readers

I give my more detailed thoughts on all these short story collections for learning Japanese in my blog post. You can find it here:

[magical-glimpse]

Beginner/ Intermediate /Advanced witch...What does it even mean ?

So, I have reached the point in my witchcraft practice where I am craving for something more. I recently finished a 5 months mentorship, which taught me a lot, and now I have really been meaning to create a magic routine for myself in order to go deeper and grow my skills. I then started looking for "intermediate" witchcraft resources, where i was surprised to find...

Nearly nothing. There is almost no resources on witchcraft that are not beginner-oriented. So, that kind leaves the question, what does it mean to not be a beginner anymore ? And how do you keep growing from there ?

Where even is the line ?

My first thought was " when did it even stop to be a beginner in the first place ?!". Which, true, valid question. I started witchcraft in 2021, but since then, I have dabbed more than once into practices that are considered more "advanced" by certain people. Let's see:

dream work : I have been doing dream interpretation since I was 12, and lucid dreaming since I was 8...

Astral projecting: had my first accidental experience at age 11, and definitely did it again on accident many time since then

hexes : I have done a few of them in the last couple years, and don't necessarily feel called to do more soon...

developing clairs: one of the first skills I developed at the beginning of my journey

shadow work: same thing

I saw an advice on trying to do a bigger spell, where i could use all of my knowledge into one ritual, and even though it is in fact a good idea, isn't that only applicable to myself ? What would it look like in a ceremonial witch ? Or a spoonie witch with more struggles than me ?

Even though i did take the advice, i'm still left to wonder...

How do I go from there ?

And that is the point I am at today.

I have a bit of a budget in order to get new tools, so i'm thinking a lot about it. Books, tools, decks... What do i do ? What do I start ?

I write new things in my grimoire, try new spells or new ways of doing old spells, connected with new things, wrote down many new potential routines... Tomorrow, my practice may look completely different from today ! I do not fear trying, failing, researching again and trying again. I know myself, and my practice of tomorrow will be a blessing to who I am tomorrow, I remain loved, loving and authentic.

[prismonautic]

PROTECTIVE WARD: THE THREE SISTERS OF ROSALIA

hello everyone — i’m back from my little sabbatical with a pretty ubiquitous ward. what you put into this ward is what you get out of it, and the limits of this ward are the limits of your creativity + resourcefulness. if you’re nifty enough, you’ll be able to use this ward for any type of purpose freely.

think of using this spell as downloading a program — in order to gain access to the copy of the program you’ve downloaded into your device (which in this case, downloaded into your reality), you must agree to the terms of use and understand the consequences that will ensue if you misuse this spell. it’s embedded into all copies of the spell cast, and any attempts to tamper it will be met with consequences ranging from the ward being disabled, or you being blocked from accessing any of the spells and spirits i’ve created in general.

anyone who is seeing this likely doesn’t have to worry about any backlash from the spell — the main rules:

A) don’t attempt to use this spell to intentionally harm / sabotage me or my loved ones with anything in their lives. this WILL work against you.

B) don’t attempt to change the source coding of the servitors (in this case, the three sisters) of this spell. while you can have them do various things + there are few limits to what you can stretch the spell to do for you — don’t try to control these spirits as if they were your own. this spell can be an incredibly useful tool for you and benefit your life, but don’t get too hasty about changing around the spell’s composition.

C) you can create something separate INSPIRED by this spell (w/ credit!) please treat this creation of mine with respect — in the best case scenario, any infringements will simply not work. if mimicking this spell comes from a place of envy, jealousy, or any baneful energies that encourage you to steal it and claim it as your own, your work will work against you. please use this with an authentic heart.

unsure of any of the conditions above before using? want some clarity? need to be reassured? feel free to dm me and i’ll address any concerns that you have.

now that we’re through all the formal stuff, let me get into the spell.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

I. LORE

II. CASTING INSTRUCTIONS + SIGIL SHEET

III. ADDITIONAL DETAILS / SUGGESTIONS.

I. LORE

notes: why would i need this?

you know how in more popular forms of paganism, there is mythos that gives context to the energies that you’re working with + give you a deeper sense of how that energy will work with you and your purpose? it’s like that.

much like how devotees to aphrodite know her origins, correspondences, and relations to certain energies — those who work with the three sisters should know some lore to have a grasp on what they’re working with. it’s like how a person devoted to apollo would know the lore he has as a bringer of plague or healing would know his lore before appointing him in supporting a healing spell.

this mythos isn’t literal - this fictional story is a simple aide to preparation for the spell.

by reading this simple story, you’re already connecting to the energy of the three sister’s ward.

use this short story as a little mirror of divination to see if you’re compatible for this spell. if you feel creeped out / too intimidated after reading, this spell may be too heavy for your energy. i don’t recommend those who are strictly “love, light, harm none” to engage with this spell. if you’re someone that feels guilt for fighting back against things that seek to harm you, this is not for you.

if you feel vindicated/allure/relief/hope at the idea of having strong protection that is both offensive + defensive towards those who seek to harm you, this spell is definitely going to serve you well.

this story is written with heavy amounts of metaphors. it’s not designed to be read as you would read prose - think of it as poetry. you fill in the gaps of this story with how you resonate with it.

enjoy!

THE THREE SISTERS OF ROSALIA’S FOREST.

The Three Sisters of the Forest originated from a solitary witch named Rosalia, who created and summoned them in order to protect the forest she dwells in from being decimated and dominated by enemy ritualists that aim to use the forest for their selfish purposes.

These enemy ritualists, were only enemies because they disregarded her forest’s wellbeing and brought harm to it in the process. They excessively harvested the abundance of her plants, leaving the flowering bushes near the lakes barren.

Scorned and with a pounding heart, Rosalia decided that all the harm brought into this forest would turn into beneficial and nurturing energy for the forest.

She summoned the spirits of the three lakes of the forest: N’vai, U’nai, and Ktaa.

Each lake spirit had a different personality and different attributes of the element of Water. While the lake spirits were different in performance, they shared the foundation of water’s energy. Fluid, transformative, yet destructive.

N’vai was the western-most lake spirit of Rosalia’s forest. She was like a fly-trap. Her lake is surrounded by colorful fruits and animals that were appealing to the eye — but for anyone who knew better, all of the appealing colors were a trap. The nature around her trapped the greedy and baneful. Those too haughty would feast on her abundance of fruits, and be left there to be paralyzed and at the mercy of the nature around her. Gradually, all the entities there would become one with the fertile soil around her lake. Venomous, she is. The wise know to avoid what seems easy to conquer.

U’nai was the eastern-most lake of Rosalia’s Forest. She was absorbent and resistant to anything coming her way. Spirits passing through U’nai’s lake made sure to not stay there too long, for they would have a fate of eternal slumber within her area. Like Midas’ touch, all the entities around her would slowly slip into becoming one with her. Some dying spirits experienced it as sinking into quicksand. Others experienced it as feeling a euphoria they melted in, until they went into a deep eternal sleep. Regardless of how their fates came, U’nai has worked with N’vai protecting undesirable energies away from the final lake spirit of Rosalia’s forest — K’taa.

K’taa was the southern-most lake of Rosalia’s forest. She was the spirit closest to the cottage of Rosalia, and where seeds would go to flourish. Her waters guaranteed growth and nourishment to any energy she was told to give power to — she loved sleeping at the bottom of her lake, letting each breath of hers give life and power to the water. Rosalia would use K’taa’s water for scrying, blessing, clarity, healing … it felt like K’taa was the purified life force of those who scorned U’nai and N’vai, transformed into pure energies used to the benefit of Rosalia and the peaceful inhabitants of her forest.

The lake spirits heard Rosalia’s plea, and fulfilled it by unifying and creating an energetic ward around the forest — this ward, however, was special. It knew to target those who were desecrating the fruitful parts of the forest for their own.

Under these wards, these enemies turned into flies that were going to unknowingly decompose in their traps.

The Three Sisters of Rosalia’s forest united to materialize the protective spheres of energy surrounding Rosalia’s forest, emphasizing their unique traits in each layer of the sphere.

Rosalia’s enemies were met with destruction the next night they came to disturb the peace of her forest again. N’vai was the outer sphere of the ward, and they met her wrath for daring to attack the area — no being that comes with malice in this forest shall come out.

The soil upon the bare feet of the enemies shot feelings of needles through their feet. It was like each grain of dirt looked up to stab the feet of the enemies who stood above them — shooting pains made them collapse to the ground, paralyzed. Their deeds were stopped right then and there, and their process of being decomposed into being pure energy that circulates the forest.

Any enemy that decided to tread here sealed their fate. They will become the pure water that waters the fruits in this forest — they will be the nutrients that the trees leech upon to continue standing tall. No weapon shall prosper in this domain.

The ground slowly swallowed them up, one by one. While N’vai struck them down and swallowed them into the Earth, U’nai would absorb and neutralize their beings into part of the forest — U’nai would feed what she got to K’taa.

From how the waters K’taa produced became more potent, versatile, and sacred, along with the peace she experienced with no ill-willed beings treading on her forest — Rosalia knew that her forest was now protected.

Who needs to waste energy on actively fighting when you can simply use them as a resource anyways?

No ill will shall cross into her domain without consequence.

II. THE THREE SISTERS WARD: INSTRUCTIONS + SIGIL SHEET

NOTE: before you try casting this spell, KNOW WHAT YOU ARE PROTECTING AND WHAT YOU’RE PROTECTING IT AGAINST.

this is a long-term ward that has offensive capabilities, and it’s best that you’re using this ward for something you’re VERY SERIOUS about guarding. if you wouldn’t fight to defend it, do not ward it with this spell.

do the grounding, centering, and cleansing you need to do before / during / after the spell. i’m not responsible for what’s up if you fail to do that.

1) Write your petition to the Three Sisters of Rosalia’s forest.

Your petition will consist of the subject you want protected, what you are protecting the subject against, and any other clauses that you would like to include while working with the Three Sisters ward.

Your petition should be clear and direct, addressing each problem you want warded off — and preferably, how you want specific events to be dealt with. The more detail you push into your ward petition, the better this ward will function on your behalf.

If you’re having trouble writing the petition, visualize your ideal outcome + petition actions that the ward can do to bring that ideal vision to life.

If you want help with this, you can commission me to write a detailed and strong petition for your subject — we’ll discuss the needs of your ward 1 on 1, and work on your petition until you are satisfied.

2) Name your petition, and turn the name of your petition into a sigil.

It’s like compressing a folder with a ton of information into one .zip file. It’s more effective to sigilize the petition than have the entire petition laid out in the casting circle — trust me.

3) After necessary energetic procedure (cleansing grounding centering etc) on any piece of paper, draw the casting triangle below, and draw the sigils in THIS ORDER: N’VAI —> U’NAI —> K’TAA —> YOUR SIGILIZED PETITION.

4) Near the casting circle, repeat the following incantation TEN times, observe any visualizations that arise as a result:

“N’vai protects endlessly, U’nai transmutes endlessly, K’taa’s fruit of abundance shall always bless us through her graceful energy — may the Three Sisters of Rosalia’s lake rise and bring these petitioned desires to me.”

(nuh-vEYE, Oo-nEYE, Kh-Taah, pronounciation, if you need it. “ai” is like “EYE” here.)

5) Close the spell with “The deal is sealed, the wall is raised, all undesirable energies are destroyed today.”

6) Take the paper and burn it somewhere safe. If burning is not an option, destroy it by soaking it in water and tearing it. The spell is over, and the ward is fully raised and activated.

III. ADDITIONAL DETAILS + TIPS

In the event you want to edit your petition (you probably will), keep your petition written out somewhere safe + editing. The ward will update with the changes of the petition, since it is connected to the sigil you destroyed in the casting triangle.

You can communicate with the Three Sisters through any divination method that’s most comfortable for you. I’ve found that dream-work is a solid medium, along with clairvoyance + clairsentience.

In the event you want to dismantle / relocate the ward, re-do the ritual but have the petitioning sigil be a petition of removal.

—

i think i covered all i could.

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[afnguy]

Drawing the Face and Human Figure Classes:

$35. per hour for private lessons online from the comfort of your home. You do not need much in terms of materials as a good set of pencils and a few fine tip markers. I have over 25 years teaching experience in drawing with excellent references available. Please see my webpage: AshleyNitkin.wordpress.com or email me at: afn_4@yahoo.com

[zishuge]

actually squealing at the scene where ye shiqi offers her his water and food by the river and she's all "you're so capable... lucky for the girl who's going to marry you in the future" and he glances over at her and smiles all shyly HELPPPP

[rigelmejo]

Language Study Challenges I've been contemplating, but I just do not have the time to do it all. ToT I think some of these could result in some good progress over a few months, as a period to see how much the challenge is helping you improve in your specific goals.

Glossika: attempt to study 2000 new sentences in the course in a month, doing reviews only if you have spare time. May require 1-2 hours of study time a day, but the studying can be done as just listening, so you can do it while also doing other things. Getting through 2000 new sentences in glossika will take around 40-60 hours (I think it took me 40 hours). If the method is working well for making progress on your improvement goals, then keep doing for 3 months and you will cover 6000 sentences, then the 4th month study the last 400 sentences in the course and finally start prioritizing reviews. Spend end of 4th month reviewing, and do a final 5th month of reviews if desired. (Do reviews more than me if you prefer that, do speaking practice with course if desired for your particular goals, do reading practice with course sentences of desired for your particular goal). This can be completed in ~3 to 5 months, so you can make some significant progress and see how well (or not) it worked for your goals in a somewhat shorter amount of time. (I'm doing this challenge now).

Listen to an audiobook: find an audiobook you like (I'm using SCI), attempt to listen to it in as short a time period as possible (that's possible for you), aiming for at least 1-2 hours of listening a day (on average). Since its just listening, it can be done while doing some other activities. If you pick an audiobook shorter than 60 hours long, pick a few audiobooks so that listening 2 hours a day would result in eventually listening to 60 hours in a month. If desired, the next month you can pick to re-listen to the same audiobooks again (for repetition and to see if you understand more the next time around). For me, the goal with this is to INCREASE practice listening to a LOT of dense speaking. So for me, perfectionism will try to kick in and I'll try to re-listen to the same chapter over and over. So for me, this goal is to FINISH listening to an audiobook. The SCI audiobook I'm listening to is around 60 hours. Guardian by priest is around 50 hours. A lot of Chinese webnovels will easily be 40 hours or much longer, if you want something long to keep listening to the same word choices and grammar patterns and plot of one author. If you pick shorter audiobooks, picking the same author may help keep the vocabulary and grammar more familiar to you over time. (I'm doing this challenge).

Comprehensible Input Challenge (for total beginners): Dreaming Spanish gives an estimate of 50 hours to learn 300 words, and 150 more hours (so 200 hours total) to learn 1,500 words. 1,500 words is a great foundation to starting to try shows if you are okay looking key words up every few minutes, novels for kids if you're willing to look key words up, graded readers, simple conversations, videos for learners which don't have as many visual aids for understanding, and the broader world of being able to learn more new words with SURROUNDING words as your context for guessing, instead of only or often primarily visual clues. Dreaming Spanish labels that as Level 3, 1,500 words learned, can watch Intermediate Dreaming Spanish videos. (From their site "Now you can listen to videos or classes in which the teacher doesn't use as much visual input, and may even be able to take advantage of really easy audios and podcasts that are catered to learners at your level. Crosstalk is still the best way to spend your time. At this level it becomes easier than before to do crosstalk over the internet using video call software, so you won't need to find native speakers where you live anymore. Reading is still not recommended if you care about your final achievement in pronunciation, but it starts becoming possible to understand lower level graded readers"). So for a total beginner the challenge would be to get through 50 hours of Comprehensible Input lessons for Superbeginners/Absolute Beginners/B0 (depends on the youtube account for what the first beginner videos are labelled). Just plan 1-2 hours of video lessons per day. Then for months 2, 3, 4, keep doing 50 hours a month and you'll hit that approximate 1,500 words known level. At that point, you should find non-comprehensible input made lessons such as beginner learner podcasts and graded readers become somewhat understandable, and media in the target language may in some cases be understandable if you're willing to look up key words and feel the initial "very tired/drained from focusing hard" part that always happens at first.

Comprehensible Input Challenge (for upper beginners): Assuming you know 1,500 to 2,000 words - or skill wise, you can handle understanding beginner graded readers and some beginner dialogues in learner materials, and can handle some content in the target language for native speakers IF it's on the easier side and you can look a key word up for meaning every few minutes (so for example: you can follow a Peppa Pig episode, or a Spongebob episode, aka a cartoon for kids, if you look up key words every few minutes - alternatively, if you can watch a simple romance daily life show and follow the main plot if you look up key words). Your goal as an intermediate learner: watch 300 hours of Comprehensible Input Lessons labelled "Intermediate." 300 hours will take you from that upper beginner area you're at (1,500 words learned) to 3,000 words learned. That will get you to the point of (from Dreaming Spanish site): being able to talk to patient native speakers and may be able to make friends and lamguage exchange partners, get through daily life stuff like shopping with words although it may be a struggle, can learn new words mainly from surrounding word context now (so picking up new words from things you engage with is going to start picking up more so listening to stuff and watching stuff outside of lessons will result in learning more words - shows, podcasts, entertainment), graded readers will still be more comfortable but you can wade into more books for native speakers (especially if you're willing to look up key words for main idea). At 3,000 words, media for native speakers will still feel difficult but it should feel significantly LESS difficult than it did when you knew 1,500 words. When I knew 1500 words I could start watching cdramas with no english subtitles, but I looked up key words every 1-3 minutes and felt exhausted within 5-20 minutes. Once I had studied 3000 words, I could watch simpler romance slice of life cdramas for 40 minutes (episode length) without feeling drained, and look up key words once every 5 minutes. (Although keep in mind: the first time you watch shows or read novels, it will feel Exhausting until you get used to it, even if you know many thousands of words... you have to practice reading/listening stamina, even if you have a bigger vocabulary). So a 300 hour study of intermediate level lessons, should give you a significant boost in your language skills. You could do 50 hours a month, 1-2 hours a day, and finish in 6 months. You could do 60 hours a month (2 hours a day) and finish in 5 months. You could do 90 hours a month (3 hours a day - probably more than the average person has time for but this is a challenge after all lol!) and finish in 3.3 months. A huge jump like that in 3 months would be awesome! (I did that kind of jump in 6 months... when I started chinese I cram studied 2000 words and 1500 hanzi in 6 months, then reviewed for 2 months by watching shows and graded readers, then for 4 months I read a TON of webnovel chapters and picked up another 1000 words and ~500 hanzi). So yeah, 1.6 hours to 3 hours a day of study for a few months, aiming for 50-90 hours of Comprehensible Input Lessons for Intermediate Learners on youtube per month for 3.3-6 months.

Comprehensible Input Challenge (for intermediate learners) : This is where I am (for Japanese). 600 hours to go from the last level to this, to learn 5,000 words total. (As you know... I'm attempting to use Glossika japanese to learn 5000 words instead, so I'll report how that goes). 600 hours unfortunately cannot be done in 3 months with a comfortable study plan - I think, for me at least, a comfortable study plan I know I can commit to is going to need to be 2 hours a day or less (on average). 600 hours would take ~10 months to go through at 2 hours a day. Now granted, 10 months isn't so long in the grand scheme. But if you, like me, can motivate yourself to read novels or watch shows at this point, then 600 hours of youtube lessons sounds so boring. Although... I guess for my japanese level, watching shows still feels exhausting (podcasts for learners feel okay though, like Nihongo Con Teppei, so maybe I should listen to hundreds of hours of that?). Find the intermediate/advanced video comprehensible input lessons on youtube for the language you're studying, and go wild. It should take 10 months unless you study more hours per day then I can. (I think this is a sobering realization, right as I type, that it probably is going to take 600ish hours of SOME form of Japanese study to get me to the level I want to be at... maybe I'll try to just slog through a japanese novel ebook... I can sometimes motivate myself to read for 4 hours a day, I like reading...). Note: if I do this challenge later, it'll be with Comprehensible Japanese youtube videos for Intermediate and Advanced. Significant progress you should see once you've learned around 5,000 words (from Dreaming Spanish): You'll be able to understand more advanced materials for learners. Listen to audios and podcasts daily if you want to learn fast. Crosstalk is still as good as always. You may start feeling you are not getting much out of getting input about daily life topics. Try getting input about new topics. Easier TV programs and cartoons should be accessible too. The purists who want to get really close to a native speaker and get a really good accent may still want to hold off on speaking and reading for a little more, but if you do start speaking and reading it's not a big deal by this point. You'll still end up with better pronunciation and fluency than the vast majority of learners. If you want to start reading, by this point you'll be able to understand books targeted at children of lower grade levels, and you can skip over graded readers. From me: if you're looking key words up for the main idea when watching shows, you should now be able to watch many shows in familiar genres and just look up 1 word every 5 minutes or so. If you've got a decent ability to guess, and practiced getting used to media for native speakers already, then like I was in Chinese - you will probably feel comfortable watching MANY shows in genres you're familiar with, without looking up anything. You will feel especially comfortable with easier shows like cartoons and romance daily life stuff, and things you've watched before. If you've been practicing reading before this, then once you know 5000 words you will find you need to look key words up less often and can focus more on enjoying stories, and looking words up because you desire their specific meaning/to fully understand details, not necessarily because you need the words meaning to grasp the main idea (I did a LOT of intensive reading around this period in Chinese because I could finally extensively read for plot, so I'd look up every unknown word I saw to grasp the other details and increase my vocabulary... and because the amount of unknown words to look up was now manageable).