Charm School Update: Week 12 ?!

Dear Readers,

As you may recall, Week 6 of this project overlapped with a regional camp that Stella and I attended, and for which I had an organizing role. It took a lot out of me, as well as energizing and sustaining me, as it always does, and while I knew camp week would be a lot -- that's why I made it a "grace week" in my estimated schedule of how to get through this project -- I very much underestimated the time it would take me after camp to get back into any semblance of "normal routine". It could be argued that I didn't have any such "normal routine" before camp, anyway. Regardless, I was... optimistic.

I actually thought that this was probably only Week 10 or so, but according to the calendar, nope lol. This is indeed week 12, when we originally anticipated wrapping this all up. Well I can tell you, we are not doing that just yet.

After camp, I was still in Ohio for a few days before flying back to the southwest, so getting back to routine was already delayed. Then my flight got delayed 18 hours, putting me back at an altogether different time of day than expected. Then began the just... processing and recovery time. I am already not the best at judging the passing of linear time (if that even really exists), so weeks went by with no progress on Charm School. Then I started getting back into it a little at a time, but my focus is pretty shot once again. (Also, the return of insomnia! Huzzah! /sarcasm)

I've been struggling with my focus when reading since 2020. Audio books have helped a lot, because I can listen and read along at the same time and that helps, but not all books I'm reading have an audio version! Anyway, here is where we are now.

Earlier this week, I sat down and looked at how much I still have left to do.

I'm partway through all of the reading, but haven't finished any one, since I've been doing a little of each simultaneously. Since What Witches Do was going fairly quickly at the beginning for me, I've gotten back into that, and I'm prioritizing finishing that one first. It's a little easier because I'm reading an ebook version, so I can pull out my phone and read a few pages anywhere I am. I'm dog-sitting this month for a neighbor of my mom's, so when I go over there a few times each day to check on the pup, I read a little bit each time. In this way, I've been able to finish at least one chapter in that book every day this week! One day I finished two. I am on chapter 11 out of 16 now, and have already either fully read or at least skimmed all the appendices previously.

The other books are print copies, but I also have an audio book for one:

• To Stir a Magic Cauldron is not technically part of the reading assignments for this project, it is simply the origin, inspiration, and source of some of the specific tasks we are doing. It is where the Mist Tradition tasks are found. But since I had never read it before, I'm reading it now. I finished To Ride a Silver Broomstick first, earlier this year (also not technically part of this project, but for me, a necessary/desired precursor), and didn't start Cauldron until after I had finished that. I first flipped through Cauldron to find, read, and bookmark the sections that are directly needed for various Mist Trad tasks, like the explanation of Altar Devotions, and the qualities of a "proper person." After that, I set about starting to read in earnest, beginning to end. I'm not very far along in this, and my ability to focus in my current living environment is, shall we say, challenged greatly? So I checked out the audio book to help me along. I did the same for Broomstick near the end, so this time I'm just bringing in the audio a lot earlier in the book.

• The Twelve Wild Swans is the other book we're using for this project, and there is no audio book available for it, but I have also read it before. I've worked through the Elements Path in it now three times, and this will be my second time doing the Inner and Outer Paths. I went back through Elements again, pretty smooth sailing, got it done in the first couple weeks of this project back in June. I started the Inner Path and then ended up having to set it all aside because we were getting very close to camp and I had a lot of meetings to attend. It's taken me many weeks to get back into it. Two years ago, actually, my local community was going to work through this whole book together, and we got stuck and put it all aside when I was partway through Inner Path, too. This time, since I started back at the beginning, I'm actually not even back to the part where I left off last time yet lol. If you do a chapter every day, you can work through this book in three weeks. That's how I did it the first time I did it, but it was also the main thing I was working on then, not one of a ton of other things I'm doing! So it's different.

The other tasks are also still in progress.

I already updated about most of this in my previous, Week 5, update. I actually just typed a paragraph about it and then thought I better go check to see what I said there... I had already done it, haha. Suffice it to say, I have made little progress on the rest of the tasks compared to where I was at Week 5, so go have a read of that one, if you missed it. I'll let you know when there is NEW stuff to say.

I will say now, however, that I am thinking about doing a live stream where I sit down to work on memorizing / reviewing the circle castings and quarter calls, so people can hang out live during it or watch back the recording later. I'm not sure when this will be yet, but I'll keep you posted! If you're part of my Patreon community or following my Instagram, I'll let folks know there, too. I might do the live stream for Patrons and post the recording publicly on my YouTube afterwards.

Stella and I chatted briefly this past week. I asked if we wanted to schedule a separate discussion for each book, or at least for What Witches Do, since that's the one that was new to both of us. I have no timeline for that yet but we agreed that it would be a good idea to do that separately from any kind of "whole project recap" we get up to in the future.

We are also extending the length of this project, which is for me now even more obviously necessary, since now I realize this was Week 12 and not Week 10. 😂

I will still attempt to get as much done as possible within this next week, up to the end of August. I guess in my head this past week, I was thinking Week 12 went up to the end of August, but now I recall that felt like a nice, neat 13th week in which to record our final recap chat. Had I looked back at my schedule document, I would have realized my error sooner. Ah, well, it was always just a guideline! 

And really, this is doable in 12 weeks' time, if you're actually able to focus and work on things each of those weeks! I've had MANY weeks where I have done no work on this, and just haven't been able to keep track of how much time is truly passing. I think "oh I didn't do much this week", and it's actually been two weeks... or more. Yeah. So, there have been some challenges that are definitely about me and my personal situation, how my brain works, the environment I'm currently in, and how many other things I have going on at the same time. But when I go back at the end and count up how many days I actually spent doing the work of these tasks, I'm sure it will be less than 12 weeks. So I think the way I set this up was a decent plan, one that would also allow for integration time in between... if only I were able to stick to it week by week instead of spreading it farther out!

But this is one of the challenges we modern Witches and Pagans face: how to make time for our chosen magical studies and spiritual development in the midst of everything else. The good thing is, there isn't actually any kind of schedule or deadline other than the ones we place upon ourselves -- for fun, or for some structure where it can be helpful to learning.

Besides, no one in Mist Tradition is actually spending only three months on their work. Traditionally these types of things take at least a year! So really, we're doing pretty well. 😉

Be well, Witches!

Love & Power,

Cara