Any self-respecting witch should have his or her own Book Of Shadows, what you might call a magical mystery tour of the practitioners ritual and magickal life in progress. A journal, or diary, if you will. Until now, this is something that I have just not been able to keep up with on a consistent basis.
But I had a brainstorm over the last few days, and I'm amazed that I never thought of it before. Instead of messing with parchment and a bound book, I'll just compile my "Book Of Shadows" on Microsoft Word.
It might seem strange, at first glance, but as I've worked on it, I am quite pleased with the results.
It also has the added benefit of being far less likely to fall under the scrutiny of prying eyes, who might wonder just what the hell I have going on here.
Of course even if they did they would glean little information out of it. They would know what it is, because I have it titled "Book Of Shadows". They might even get some meaning out of the section titles. But from there on, they would be left more or less befuddled.
As it happens, my Book Of Shadows has been written entirely in code, by means of Tarot. Every single invoction to a deity, every magickal ritual, every astrology reading, and even every recipe and formula, prayer, etc. (when I get around to including them) will be written in tarot symbology.
Actually, this has several advantages. Not the least of which, it will give the whole body of work a mystical feel to it. In fact, I don't even conscously think of what I am going to write down, I just meditate on the subject, and then do a tarot reading, and copy down the results.
Like I said, no one will know what I am talking about, and after all, a Book Of Shadows is suppossed to be a practitioners own private journal, so tarot symbology will work perfectly for this. Even if my journal were to be seen by somebody who understands tarot as well, or for that matter even better, than I do, such is the nature of the tarot that their interpretations of the cards might not be the correct interpretation. In fact, it would be very unlikely to be.
Of course, there is one initial drawback-I don't know what they mean either. But hey, so much the better. I just have to interpret the tarot readings for my own Book Of Shadows, which will actually make it that much more compelling, and make it that much more a part of me than if I just mechanially wrote down my throughts and feelings in journal form in the usual method.
It's like a living journal, as oppossed to something that's hard and concrete, and will grow and evolve as I hopefully do. For the first time in a long time, I am actually looking forward to this.
3 comments:
Danielle-A "Book Of Shadows" is not a journal in the usual meaning of the word, but it is a journal of a witch's spiritual and magickal journey, so to speak. It can include spells, rituals, invocations to deities, dream accounts and interpretations, various kinds of divinations, and even ritual or magickal oriented recipes.
Also, it can be one individuals private account, as in my case, but also some Wiccan/Pagan traditions have their own group "Book Of Shadows" that they use for group rituals and other activites.
Don't try to push yourself into joining anything out of a need to belong, just let it flow naturally, and you will eventually gravitate to something that will be fulfilling to you. Or maybe you won't. It could be you have no actual need for that. But when and if it happens, it will speak to you i a way you will know is real.
Great Blog, congratulations and all the best of luck with your Book of Shadows. - Australia
Thank you, CK, I appreciate that.
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