The Blessing

This is a simple Rite to be performed when you are alone. Timing is a personal preference. You can look up all the right correspondences, but what really matters is how much you can put into it personally, if getting everything together for 3am on the New Moon, with a purple altar cloth on a stormy night and you are stressing way too much it is all for nothing, if you can't be at 100% it is better to do sunrise or noon or your birthday.

Prepare a Book Blessing

Keep it simple, stick to your normal pre-ritual routine and set your altar.

Altar Cloth, White Candle, Incense, Book and Pen. Music if you want it.

This does not require a full circle cast. Just a Cone of Power.

Normal Tool Consecration Visualization. Pass it through the Incense, light the candle and dedicate your BoS, then open the book and in the Witches Alphabet on the very first page, scribe your BoS's name and Say:

"Keeper of Knowledge, Lore and Magick; Book of Shadows, I name you _________"

Then raise your hands to the sky and you can say a blessing or modify this blessing over your Book of Shadows:

"In the realm of magick -this book- (or Books Name) shall reside.
No one but the chosen shall see what's inside.
If breath be to Air as passion to Fire,
Let harm come to none, this is my desire.
If life be to Earth as Water to emotions,
This book be filled with magickal potions.
May the Gods protect it, keep it from harm,
And upon it bestow power, magick, and charm.
No one without wisdom shall peer at its pages,
Or the knowledge inside handed down through the ages.
This book be it mine, it harbors no fears.
The knowledge obtained through blood, sweat, and tears,
My Magick's my passion, the spirit's my guide.
The book may she bless it with spiritual light.
And let only her children read of its rite.
That this is my will, so mote it be."

Modified From "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Wicca and Witchcraft"
by Denise Zimmermann and Katherine A. Gleason

Now Invert your Cone and focus all that energy into your BoS.

Write a more personalized blessing or command, a sort of instruction for your BoS to follow on the next page, along the lines of a classic evocation. Simplicity, I cannot stress it enough, keep it brief and poetic, it doesn't need to go on for pages.

Sit still for a moment and Ground any remaining energy.

If you would like to contact me personally for Q&A you can always comment or for private consult my email is listed in my business card, please note that I work at my own pace and you may see your answer in a blog post rather than a responding email. 

What is in a Name?

Could you imagine a world of "Hey you!"? To be honest I wouldn't want to. Now your tools are just like people, your Athame is different from mine, even as my Book of Shadows is very different from yours. It needs a name.

Take some time. You could just call it "Lady Fluffy-Butts Book" nothing against that, its what many, many Pagans do. However, it is my opinion that, that sort of name subjugates. Your Tools are your partners, your allies; they are not your servants or slaves.

Take a few moments, roughly three minutes and quickly write down everything that you want your BoS to be. You should be able to sort it out into a few sentences. Once you have done that slowly pair it down to a single word or three. You can then use that word or Phrase to name your BoS, the name will work like a Power word or Invocation by itself. The more simple it is the better.

You know that this is your Book of Shadows, so adding that to the name is superfluous.

Ritual

Now every single entry does not need to be accompanied by candles and incense. It is best to keep a white un-scented candle (the 7-Day candle I had you buy) for those entries that do however need a little ceremony. Sandalwood incense is also a good go to for the BoS, its simple, evocative and easy to come by.

Rituals in there simplest form are just a series of actions repeated, like saying grace over a meal.

If you can afford to you should get a book holder/stand for your Book of Shadows so that it can be held apart but for now a shelf works.

Standing on Ceremony

Prepare your work area, desk or table. It should be draped with cloth and set with your white candle. Fetch your BoS, and sit down at your work area.

Kiss the spine of the book and whisper:

(You can change this to suit your needs)
"Ancient Spirits, With your permission,
I draw from you the blessings of enlightenment.
That I may bring clarity to my decisions.
I draw from you the blessings of intuition
That I might attune better with my Gods,
the cycles of nature and the cycles of life.
I draw from you the blessings of courage
That I  face that which threatens and triumph.
I draw from you the blessing of strength;
That I have resolve to stand and survive any challenge."

Place the BoS before you and using your pen as you might a wand, draw an invoking pentagram in the air above it and light the candle. Be cautious if the candle does not stay lit, you may be, being scryed or not alone, the spirits may be telling you that this is not the time for your work. Try to light it again, if it will not stay lit, put your work away.

If it does stay lit, then finish what you started.

After you are done, close the book, and using your pen again draw a banishing pentagram in the air over it and whisper:


"I have drawn many blessing from you and leave you to rest with my offerings. So Mote it Be."

Again kiss the binding.
Snuff the Candle.
Clean up after yourself.
Make an appropriate Offering at your Altar.

If you would like to contact me personally for Q&A you can always comment or for private consult my email is listed in my business card, please note that I work at my own pace and you may see your answer in a blog post rather than a responding email.  

 

Organization

I want you to forget about tabs and chapters.

You don't need an index, and you don't have to worry when you need something you will know where it is. You can save organization and references and citations for your Book of Mirrors.. Shadows work like the inside of your own mind.

It should feel very out of order to an outsider, another step in the code, is deception. You are misleading anyone who might open the book.

That is to say, it will feel right to you, but not others.

If you would like to contact me personally for Q&A you can always comment or for private consult my email is listed in my business card, please note that I work at my own pace and you may see your answer in a blog post rather than a responding email.  

 

The Language

Saturday was my 31st birthday, so please forgive me that this entry is a little brief.

While not traditional to all paths The Witches Alphabet is a code that has a delicious old world feel to it and actually does give your work a special energy.

The last character in the chart works I lieu of a period. I personally never use the Alphabet to write whole sentences, usually just power words. You don't need to memorize them, if you don't know the letters but know the words it gives them more power in capturing your intent.

If you would like to contact me personally for Q&A you can always comment or for private consult my email is listed in my business card, please note that I work at my own pace and you may see your answer in a blog post rather than a responding email.



Art

Our faith is one built on an ancient foundation, firelight and smoke. Not one single person alive today knows the true history of Pagan Religions. As an oral tradition much has been lost, but what survives, what has survived the longest is Art.

The earliest form of art, which has survived, is often referred to as "Cave Art." It has been found around the world from Europe, Australia, Africa, and China, as well as other places. This type of art typically depicted animals, but also included humans, weapons, crude maps, and symbols. Some of which have carried over into the Pagan reconstructionist movement. Often used as a sort of metaphysical shorthand.

Draw.

Use pictures in your BoS, it will give it life.

If you would like to contact me personally for Q&A you can always comment or for private consult my email is listed in my business card, please note that I work at my own pace and you may see your answer in a blog post rather than a responding email.  

 

Supplies

Step One; Go shopping.

The Book. Get a Blank Journal, or if you are crafty you can get loose Parchment and bind it yourself, or follow these steps and insert them into an existing BoS.

• White 7-Day Candle
• Sandalwood Incense (the good stuff)
• Anointing Oil
• Lancet Device This is a little machine you load an ultra fine needle in so that it can be spring loaded. Critical if you have a problem pricking your own finger.
• A Pen, Gerald Gardner called the "Pen of Art" and kept one special for the use of writing in his BoS. I recommend Felt Tip because it looks old world on paper without dripping or smudging the way fountain pens do.
• A Book Mark, for obvious reasons.

If you would like to contact me personally for Q&A you can always comment or for private consult my email is listed in my business card, please note that I work at my own pace and you may see your answer in a blog post rather than a responding email.