Hello hello! This is your local apothecary and witch, Selena Sparklemoon. 

For the longest time I’ve always wanted to journey into my favourite novels, take a deep dive into their fictitious worlds and plots and gallivant with my favourite characters. Live a few lifetimes here and there, have a go at reviving Frankenstein’s monster myself and enjoy a spot of soothing peppermint tea together. Maybe I could even change the very course of events and add a whole new level of spice to my favourite works of fiction!

Recently, I’ve seen this become a common plot point in a bunch of movies, TV shows and video games. There’s even a genre dedicated to the phenomenon—Isekai— aka portal and transdimensional fantasy. How exciting! 

I’ve been doing research to see if this can be achieved in real life. Amon has been helping too—they’ve been super-duper excited about visiting their favourite desserts-themed slice of life romance novella series Pumpkin Bread & Peppermint Tea. After much digging, we’re pleased to announce it’s indeed possible! There’s a very fun list of steps that’s perfect to realise this dream. 

So what are those steps you may ask? Well, I’m about to get into that—follow these steps to the letter, and you can enter your favourite world of fiction, whether it’s in a book, painting, or multimedia like music, television, or film! 

You will need the following: 

• The work of fiction you want to enter
• Several sticks of chalk—at least two, no more than five
• Several pinches of salt 
• A pinch of basil, a pinch of coriander and a pinch of thyme 
• A whole bunch of chicken stock, at least three litres of the stuff. Go for the meat-free options if possible, we want to be sustainable here 
• Lavender, lavender, lots of lavender! At least five bouquets—we want to get really sleepy. 
• One cauldron; you can easily source one from your local coven, or the night market for a hefty amount of money 
• One wooden ladle, blessed by a tree nymph’s kiss 
• A playlist of your favourite tunes 
• A device to play your tunes—whether it’s your phone, a boombox, or a record player 
• The body and headspace (aka spoons) to dance your heart and soul out/a friend to dance for you 
• An assortment of pillows—soft pillows, animal-shaped pillows, demon-shaped pillows, Pokémon-shaped pillows, whatever fills your heart’s desires! 
• A pile of blankets—the really soft, snuggly kind that is perfect for cat naps 

1. Place your work of fiction in the centre of the room/field you want to use. 
2. Draw a pentagram around the work of fiction. Follow that up with a sprinkle of salt—the more demonic your work of fiction, the more salt you should use! 
3. Pick out your herbs and lavender. Whether it’s your local garden, local market, local cemetery or local courier, we’ve gotta have some lavender, basil, coriander, and definitely some thyme (no pun intended!). 
4. Bunch up your herbs and lavender and put it all in your cauldron. 
5. Time to combine with a pour of chicken stock! Stir until the brew resembles the Milky Way galaxy. 
6. Set up your tunes and dance to your heart’s content! Dance to the beat of your heart! Dance around the work of fiction! If you’re unable to dance, that's a-okay; a friend can dance in your place—after all, that’s what friends are for! Amon tends to dance in my place whenever I don’t have the spoons for this step. 
7. Whether you danced or not, you will suddenly feel a deep urge to fall into a deep sleep. It’s part of the process, don’t worry! Find a nice place to lie down (this is where your pillows and blankets come in handy). 
8. Once you wake up, if all goes well, you should be in the world of your work of fiction! You can choose to stay for as long as you like, even forever. 
9. To return, simply twirl in place, click your fingers three times and say the words “there’s no place like home”, and you will awake again, right next to the work of fiction that you were just visiting. 
10. Hug your work of fiction (if you want) and show your appreciation for its existence by giving it another read/watch/listen! 

I should warn you though, if you do plan on staying—if you try calling your new place home—be prepared to bear the consequences. For if you happen to die in the fictitious world, you will die in real life. I had to learn that the hard way—me, Amon, and my former coven… 

That’s all from me for now! Tune in next time where I will finally reveal the cure-all for brain fog! Buh-bye for now!