Types Of Dark Academia

types of dark academia

classic academia: beige trench coats, wool sweaters. plaid skirts. think femme fatale, but educated. sobbing in bed late at night over the secret history or dead poets society. tea with milk and sugar. subsequent tea stains.

darkest academia: running through the rain, dimly lit by streetlights. brown tweed jackets, dress shoes. cold fingers and colder gazes. french-pressed black coffee, piping hot. dark, candlelit rooms with ancient wood floors/walls. 

light academia: white cable-knit sweaters, sparkly eyes and foggy glasses. going to art museums and falling in love with every portrait, every sculpture. caressing the petals of a rose, hearing the crinkle of leaves underfoot.

witchy academia: burning candles while reading or doing homework. black turtlenecks, velvet skirts. walking through the forest in autumn. passing a graveyard and feeling a greyish presence. waiting anxiously for samhain.

romantic academia: writing flowery poetry about someone you’ll never speak to (guilty oops). a cozy alizarin sweater, pleated skirts. slow dancing around your room to the beatles. curling up with warm, pallid cups of tea and a book.

scholarly academia: impeccable notes in class. leather bound bags crammed with textbooks and pens. lots of coffee with scones, and even more late nights. a wide vocabulary (that people constantly comment on). lives in the library.

theatre academia: shakespeare, all the time - quoting, reading, praying for a school production of a midsummer nights dream. or the crucible. memorizing lines in the wings. taking on your character’s traits, even outside the theater.

“There’s no rule on how it is to write … Sometimes it comes easily and perfectly. Sometimes it is like drilling rock and then blasting it out with charges.”

— Ernest Hemingway

She messaged me because we shared the same name. It’s not a terribly common combination of first and last names. Nevertheless, she had it, the same as I did. She said she ‘found’ me, and that she was surprised to find someone with the same name as her, but she never told me where she found me. That was how we became friends.

“Maybe we’re twins, separated at birth. Maybe we even share the same star sign. Are you a Cancer too?”

I typed my message in, saying that I’m actually a Virgo. Then I deleted it, and I typed that I’m a Cancer too. I hit send, and I read on the screen how surprised and delighted she was.

“I’m at an opera,” she said. “I wish I could say it’s so fascinating, but it really isn’t. I’m so bored.”

“Then get out of there,” I messaged her, just as she sent a picture of the opera stage. I didn’t think they allowed photography in opera, but what do I know?

“Good idea!” she said.

A few minutes later, she shared a picture of the city’s waterfront, with its smudgy boats and their twinkling lights and coloured lanterns. The sky was darker than it probably was, and there were people walking along the boardwalk, some of them holding each others’ hands.

“There’s so many people here,” she said. “I like it. I feel lost in the crowd.”

“Did you really skip the opera because I suggested it?”

She started typing as soon as my message reached her, as if she already knew what she had to say. “No, I was bored anyway,” she said. “Besides, I can be anywhere I want. I think I’ll go explore these slum streets. The skewered meat here smells incredible. There’s so many people sitting and playing games with each other, or eating at tables outside street stalls.”

She sent me a very brief video of the street she was in. Both sides were lined with shops, stalls, merchandise, lights, and people looking to buy something.

Everything she saw in my city, it was as if she was a tourist. She couldn’t help but marvel at the people, the sights, the sounds, the smells of it all.

“Where are you really from?” I asked.

“I’m from the city, of course,” she said. “Same as you. I lived far from the beach, though, so I never got to see this part of town. I spent most of my town indoors, you see.”

“Huh,” I messaged her. “So where do you live now?”

“Oh,” she replied. And then, there were no more messages. I held the phone in my hands, held it in the dark over my head, until I was starting to get sleepy.

Then I heard a new message notification, so I forced myself to open my eyes and look at a picture of fireworks over the seaside hotels.

“I don’t live anywhere now,” she said after sending me the picture. “Because I don’t live.”

the magick of acorns

acorns are a cute, perfectly-sized magick charm to carry in your pocket. they represent the energy of the beautiful oak tree, which has long-held associations with strength, endurance, courage, generosity and honesty. for this reason, it has “kingly” attributes; it’s said that king arthur’s round table was made from a cross-section of a big elder oak tree’s trunk.

each acorn on the oak tree is believed to have its very own faerie watching over it. keep this in mind before you pluck an acorn from its tree; when harvesting acorns, it’s best to forage for fallen ones so as not to bring about fae mischief.

☾ using acorns as charms

carry an acorn in your pocket for health, abundance, prosperity and luck.

plant an acorn in your garden under a full moon to cultivate happiness.

use an acorn at your altar to represent the earth element.

wear an acorn around your neck to bring beauty, youth, and protection.

place an acorn in your purse or wallet to attract financial security.

an acorn at your desk inspires patience and long-term success.

☾ a simple acorn spell for strength during hardships

light a red candle, which represents strength, survival and endurance. hold an acorn in your hands and look at the flame, meditating on the hardships you’re going through and your wishes to overcome them. remind yourself that you are strong and resilient. visualize the end to the situation. warm the acorn over the candleflame, kiss the acorn, and place it under your pillow.

☾ kitchen witchcraft: acorn maple shortbread cookies

these cookies are delicious and rustic, celebrating the oak and maple trees. the cookies have powerful spiritual healing properties. here is a recipe for how to make acorn flour, which involves a couple days of labor and requires a food processor. the end product, however, is a delicious dark gluten-free flour that has chestnut flavor notes. for the cookies (makes 12), you will need:

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature (8 ounces)

½ cup sugar

¼ cup maple sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

A pinch of salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup acorn flour

1. Combine the butter, sugars and vanilla extract in a bowl and whisk together with a fork.

2. Mix the salt and flours together with a whisk in another bowl, then pour the mixture in with the butter/sugar. mix with a fork just enough to make a sticky dough with no butter chunks.

3. shape the dough into a large disk, wedge between parchment paper and freeze for at least two hours, so they maintain their structure in the oven.

4. preheat the oven to 350°F. flatten the dough disk to about ½ inch and use a cookie cutter to cut out the cookies.

5. place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 23-26 minutes (or until the edges are beginning to brown).

☾ an acorn-top faerie offering

to make an offering to nearby fae and good spirits, place a ring of acorn tops on a tree stump, and fill the acorn tops with wine. leave a pile of rose petals in the center of the ring. 

Simple Knitting Enchantment Spell

A little incantation to bless the recipient of your knitted gifts! (Can be yourself!)

Use this to enchant a garment you are knitting and bring happiness and peace to whoever wears it!

As you knit a row, repeat as many of these “verses” as needed:

In these fibers, there shall be

Patience; one, and two, and three

Kindness; four, and five, and six

Wearer’s worries, they shall fix.

In these fibers, there shall be

Warmth in one, and two, and three

Love in four, and five, and six

Wearer’s sorrow, they shall fix.

In these fibers, there shall be

Comfort; one, and two, and three

Healing; four, and five, and six

Wearer’s ailments, they shall fix.

In these fibers, there shall be

Solace; one, and two, and three

Peace in four, and five, and six

Wearer’s stresses, they shall fix.

In these fibers, there shall be

Hope in one, and two, and three

Strength in four, and five, and six

Wearer’s weakness, they shall fix.

In these fibers, there shall be

Energy; one, two, and three

Mindfulness; four, five, and six

Wearer’s spirit, they shall fix

In these fibers, there shall be

Guidance; one, and two, and three

Vision; four, and five, and six

Wearer’s drifting, they shall fix.

When you have repeated enough phrases, end with:

In these fibers, there shall be

Answers to your prayers and pleas

And as I will, so mote it be.

How to perform the spell

One way it can be done is stitch by stitch, starting at the first one in a line. This would be performed by saying (for example), “In these fibers, there shall be… Patience; one (do first stitch) and two (second stitch) and three (third stitch). Kindness; four (fourth stitch) and five (fifth stitch) and six… wearer’s worries, they shall fix.” And so on. This would be done until you reach the end of the line, where you could simply recite the last part of the spell, or, if your have three stitches left, say each part while completing the stitches.

If the garment is already finished, simply perform the spell by placing your finger in each respective stitch while reciting the spell.

No matter how you do it, you can add or take out as many “verses” of the spell as you want! Feel free to add words or things that you think the wearer may need— friendship, motivation, humility, etc.

Happy knitting!

Welcome me home with open arms, or I maybe be tempted to run back into the dark again.