Basic Witches: How to Summon Success, Banish Drama, and Raise Hell with Your Coven

by Jaya Saxena

given the strength of societal pressures to conform, you might want this extra boost. Spread the newspaper over the work surface and place a sheet of paper on top. With the lipstick, write on the paper all the ways you’ve been pressured to express femininity. Include any hurtful things people have said to you for not being a girl or not being more girly. Don’t be dainty—scrawl. Make a mess. Press hard. (Don’t worry if you go off the edges of the paper. That’s what the newspaper is for.) Use the entire tube, but save the container. Then fold the paper seven times and bury it under a bush or tree, in a flowerpot, or, if necessary, among organic waste (such as vegetable peels) in your trash can. As the paper breaks down, those burdens will feed beauty—just not yours. Yours comes from somewhere else. On the second sheet of paper, use the pen to write all the ways in which you want to be seen. List what makes you feel valuable, successful, attractive, and loved. Fold the paper three times, roll it into a tube, and slide it into the empty lipstick container. Sleep with the container under your pillow for three nights.