This was a column I wrote for The Pagan Household last year on August 12th, 2013. I found myself plagued with back to school anxiety dreams last night and thought I would post it here for anyone else in the same boat. Good luck with the new school year!
This morning on my way to work, I saw lots of parents anxiously ushering kids onto buses or waiting for the streetcar. (I love that many kids in New Orleans ride the streetcar to school).
I too will be going back to school this year. And even though it’s for my Master’s degree, I find that I am suffused with the same excitement that I remember from grade school. I’ve been disappointed all weekend that I have to wait another two weeks to start myself!
(Remind me of this conversation in a few months when I’m drowning in graduate English papers).
I’ve been carefully picking out my new school supplies and searching for a new backpack. Things like this make it easier to start the new school year off on the right foot. But just because you have the right supplies, that doesn’t mean that your student isn’t still anxious about starting a new school year.
What if your teacher is mean? Or the work is too hard? Or you have problems getting to school?! We aren’t the only ones to worry about these things; students throughout the ages and all over the world have worried about the same problems.
In one story, there is even a magical element to getting to school! This very old English ballad tells a story of a little boy that meets a stranger on the road and he has to outwit the stranger before he can get to school safely.
“Oh, where are you going?” says the false knight on the road.
“I’m going to me school,” says the wee boy and still he stood.
“What is on your back?” says the false knight on the road.
“Me bundles and me books,” says the wee boy and still he stood.
“I came a-walking by your door,” says the false knight on the road.
“That lay in your way,” says the wee boy and still he stood.
“Flung your dog a stone,” says the false knight on the road.
“I wish it was a bone,” says the wee boy and still he stood.
“Oh, what sheep and cattle’s that?” says the false knight on the road.
“They’re mine and me father’s,” says the wee boy and still he stood.
“And how many shall be mine?” says the false knight on the road.
“The ones that have the blue tail,” says the wee boy and still he stood.
“Oh, can I get a share o’ them?” says the false knight on the road.
“You cannot get a share of them,” says the wee boy and still he stood.
“And why the stick all in your hand?” says the false knight on the road.
“To keep me from all cold and harm,” says the wee boy and still he stood.
“Oh, I wish you were in yonder tree,” says the false knight on the road.
“A ladder under me,” says the wee boy and still he stood.
“The ladder it’ll break,” says the false knight on the road.
“And you will surely fall,” says the wee boy and still he stood.
“I wish you were in yonder sea,” says the false knight on the road.
“A good boat under me,” says the wee boy and still he stood.
“The boat will surely sink,” says the false knight on the road.
“And you will surely drown,” says the wee boy and still he stood.
“Has your mother more than you?” says the false knight on the road.
“Oh, none of them for you,” says the wee boy and still he stood.
“I think I hear a bell,” says the false knight on the road.
“It’s ringing you to hell,” says the wee boy and still he stood.
~ Steeleye Span sing False Knight on the Road, Traditional English Folk Ballad
(You can listen to it here or you can hear The Fleet Foxes version here…)
Hopefully your student won’t experience anything like that, but what can you do to sooth fear and anxiety about a new teacher, a new classroom, harder work and new friends?
I love baking and I love bottle spells, and this is an excellent opportunity to combine both!
This is a variation on the honey jar spell, which you can do to “sweeten people up” for any sort of new endeavor.
What you need:
Your favorite cookie recipe and all the ingredients to make the cookies.
An apple
A candle
A tin with a lid (make sure that the tin is big enough to hold the apple).
A piece of paper and a pencil
Directions:
Do this the night before school.
First, core your apple and set it inside the tin.
Next, bake your cookies. Do this with whoever is going to school. For each ingredient, as you measure it out into your cookie dough, talk about what you want out of the school year.
For example: While adding your sugar you could say “I hope I have a teacher that loves to teach me new things and who is kind to the students!” or for vanilla you could say, “I hope this year that learning will go more smoothly!” For salt you could ask for protection from bullies and safety in traveling to and from school. As you discuss each ingredient, toss a pinch of the ingredient into your apple core in the tin.
After you mixed all your ingredients and put your cookies in the oven, take your piece of paper and write the name of your student on it. Have your student cup it in their hands and make a wish for a great school year! Then put it in the apple core with everything else and put the lid on the tin.
Next, set your candle on top of the lid. (You can either melt the wax onto the tin lid or use a candle holder). I would place the spell on my altar, or you could also put it next to the bed of your student. Light you candle and let it burn down completely. (Wherever you place the spell, make sure that there aren’t any fire hazards and that the candle can burn safely).
As the candle burns, it will take all your students anxious energy and concentrate it down into the spell for a better school experience.
After the candle has burned down the next morning, you can bury your apple in the garden or in a potted plant to continue feeding the spell and then you can fill your tin with cookies to send to school with your student to share.
Happy start of school all!
Blue Star Owl 