Cleansing

 

What is cleansing?

Think of cleansing as an energetic cleaning, you're wiping away all the negative emotions, and the energies of other people, and starting off brand new like a blank page ready to be written on with only your imprint, your energy, and your intentions. 

Cleansing is used to purify, clean energy, and clear vibrations. It can clear away negative & toxic energies or stagnant energies, cleansing can be charged with your intentions.

Cleansing can be done on many things including, a new home, your current home, a particular space, ritual tools, tarot decks, crystals, your Grimoire or even yourself.

You can and should cleanse yourself daily, an easy cleansing ritual that I use daily is when I'm showering in the morning I will visualise the water washing all the negativity off my body down the drain. 

Another technique that is easy to incorporate into your life, is when you are vacuuming or sweeping imagine that along with the dust and dirt, any negativity, toxic energy, stress or whatever else needs to be cleansed is being vacuumed up or swept away.

There are many ways to cleanse including, smoke, water, the moon and the sun, crystals, salt, visualisation and sound.

Cleansing with smoke: 

Burning dried plants, woods and resins in rituals has been used by ancient peoples and civilisations for thousands of years. For example, Ancient Romans lit up cinnamon during funerals and rosemary to stimulate healing. In Mesopotamia, the Minoans and the Mycenaeans burned ladanum (a gum resin) and saffron (an antioxidant herb). Burning incense is a staple ceremony in ancient Egypt as a way of worshipping their gods. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), burning agarwood and sandalwood is believed to promote emotional and physical wellness. The Roman Catholic church practices incense burning to amplify prayers so that petitions and intentions would rise to heaven. The Assyrians burned boxwood, cedar, Cyprus, and fir in their homes, altars, and healing places. The Native American Indians burn sage in a ritual called smudging for sacred ceremonies such as spiritual healing and cleansing of negative energies.

Herbs for smoke cleansing:

Bay - Cedar - Cinnamon - Clove - Copal - Dragon's Blood - Elder leaves- 

Eucalyptus - Frankincense - Juniper - Lavender - Mint - Mugwort -Olive leaves - Palo Santo - Pine - Rosemary -Rose petals - Thyme - Sage - Vervain - Yerba Santa

How to cleanse with smoke:

First, choose your herb, incense, resin etc make sure they are ethically sourced, and do some research as each herb has multiple correspondences. For example, Lavender which is one of my favourite cleansing herbs can be used for healing, calming, anxiety, clarity, communication, release, sleep, peace, love, tranquillity, happiness, cleansing, balance and psychic protection among other things. So if you want to cleanse your bedroom or the room your altar is in with smoke and you want to imbue your intention at the same time say peace then lavender is perfect. Or if you're cleansing an object say a new deck of tarot cards and you want to imbue the intention of intuition, Echinacea is a great herb to use. 

Cleansing a house or room:

Once you have chosen and sourced your herbs, you should psychically clean the space, open the curtains and let the sunlight or moonlight in, and open the windows so that the negative energy has somewhere to go. 

Stand in the front doorway of your house or the door to the room you are cleansing and either aloud or in your mind repeat your intention or say a mantra something like "with this smoke I banish all negativity so only love and light remain". 

Using your chosen dried herbs, light them till they start smoking but not alight, you don't want them to be on fire. Using a fireproof dish, abalone shells work well, (to hold underneath your herbs and catch the ash), walk slowly around the room letting the smoke fill the space. You can use your hand or a feather to waft the smoke if you like, but make sure the smoke reaches all parts of the room, the corners, windows, and doors. Keep thinking or speaking your intention or mantra as you walk around the room or house and finish back at the door you began with. 

Once you have finished use the fireproof dish to extinguish the smoking herbs. Or alternatively, you can place the smoking herbs into the fireproof dish and let them go out themselves.

Cleansing an object or yourself:

The process of cleansing yourself or a particular object such as crystals (use dragons blood to cleanse and amplify), ritual tools (use juniper to cleanse, center, clarity and focus), tarot decks (use mugwort to cleanse, protect, give strength, amplify psychic power aide in divination), or your Grimoire (use bay or bay leaf to cleanse, protect, and wisdom) and is basically the same as cleansing a room or house. Start by choosing your cleansing herbs, remember that herbs have multiple correspondences, so try to choose one that matches your intentions. 

If the object can be physically cleaned do so, but if not that's ok, if you are cleansing yourself have a shower or bath beforehand. Using a fireproof dish under your dried herbs, light the herbs until they smoke and think or speak your intention or mantra.  Make sure that the smoke wafts over the entire object or yourself, you can use your hand, feather or fan to direct the flow of smoke. Repeat your mantra or intention. When done either extinguish the herbs in the fireproof dish or place them in the dish and let them go out themselves.  

Cleansing with the  moon:

Moon water collected when the moon is full is an excellent way to harness the power and energy of the moon. It makes a great tool with which to cleanse just add it to a spray bottle and use it in any room or on an object that can get wet. To read the post on Moon Water click here.

Another way to cleanse with the moon is to do a full moon cleansing ritual. This can be done to cleanse yourself, your crystals, your tarot cards, ritual tools, or anything that may hold need an energy cleanse.

To perform this ritual all you need is the object you want cleansed and the light of the full moon. Outside is best for this but if the object is small you can place it on a window sill (same as making moon water). If you're cleansing yourself with the moon, it's best to take a cleansing shower or bath, use Epsom salts or herbs like lavender or mugwort, put some calming music on the light some candles and incense or essential oils (again use candle colours and incense or oils that correspond to cleansing and calming).

Once you or the object is clean sit or lay where you and can see and feel the moon. Leave the object for as long as possible but collect it before the sun rises. If you're cleansing yourself you may like to meditate or use visualisation to complete your cleansing ritual. 

Cleansing with crystals:

Using crystals for cleansing is so effective and super easy. You can even use crystals to cleanse other crystals! 

The best crystals to use for cleansing are Amethyst - you can use a geode or make a circle of amethyst crystals around whatever you need to be cleansed. Large quartz clusters and selenite slabs, carnelian, and hematite can be great tools for clearing smaller stones. You can place your crystals inside or on top as long as the cleansing stone is bigger than those being cleansed. 

Cleansing with Visualisation:

This method can be intimidating for some, especially those who have never done it or have little practice. The more in-tune, you are with yourself, the easier it will be to cleanse with visualisation

A cleansing shower can help to calm and get into the right mindset for this cleansing method. Take a few minutes to ground and center your energy, then visualize your chest filling with white, radiant light. Feel the heat from the cleansing light, visualise it slowly filling your body, and surrounding it. Picture the negativity and stress begin pushed out but the cleansing light flowing out into the air and dissipating. Now visualise the light's glow slowly dimming and fading away falling back into your chest as you breathe slowly through your nose and out through your mouth. 

Cleansing with Salt:

Salt has been used for thousands of years to cleanse, absorb negative energy and for banishing unwanted energies.

All salt has cleansing properties but there are a few different types of salt and all have different correspondences. Click here to read Salt Correspondences.

Different salt that can be used for cleansing is White salt (normal table salt), pink salt, sea salt, Fleur De Sel, Sel Gris, Epsom salt, Kosher salt, Alaea (red) salt, Pickling salt, Kala Namak and black salt can all be used for cleansing.

Place the object into a bowl filled with desired salt and place or bury the object in the salt. Leave for around 12 hours you can place the bowl in the moonlight for extra cleansing.

Cleansing with water:

Water is perhaps the best cleansing agent on the planet, different types of water have different correspondences, to read the post about Water Correspondences click here.

Moon water, seawater, river water, spring water and rainwater are a few types that are perfect for cleansing. 

If you're cleansing crystals be careful some can't be put in water at all, and others can't be put in salt water.  

To cleanse an object with water submerge, bathe, or spray the object with water. 

To really amp up your cleansing you can add essential oils like angelica, bay, birch, pine, lemon or sage or herbs such as basil, eucalyptus, frankincense, juniper or lavender into a spray bottle mixed with water. This is the perfect way to cleanse a room that can't be cleansed with smoke, or when you need to be a little more discreet with your witchcraft like the office. 

Cleansing with sound: 

Using sound to cleanse a space, an object or yourself is an ancient practice that is still used today all around the world. You can use sound on its own or you can use it in conjunction with another cleansing method to amp up your cleansing practice. 

To cleanse with sound you can use bells, sound bowls, or wind chimes, or simply use frequency (417 Hz solfeggio), you can even use breath work as the cleansing sound, or your voice as you chant an affirmation or mantra. 

• I cleanse this space of all negative energies, leaving only love and light remaining. 
• I call forth positivity and light to enter this space. Any negative energy is not welcome here.

Cleansing by burying in the earth:

Kind of sounds silly to say bury something in the dirt to clean it, but remember we're talking about cleansing energy, and dirt is one of the most abundant and magickal tools a witch can use. 

All you need to do, for this method, is to dig a hole, in your yard, a plant pot or even just a container of fresh soil. Place whatever it is that needs cleansing in, cover it up, leave it overnight and dig it up in the morning. Rinse them off and the earth has done everything for you. For a really deep clean leave the object in the earth for a full lunar cycle. 

 

Things like ritual tools, crystals, and amulets or talismans are perfect for this method of cleansing. When using this method don't forget where your items are buried maybe try placing a marker like a stone on top. 

Read More

Salt correspondence

 Salt

Infusing salt into spellwork can give an added boost and emphasis.

Use salt with herbs and other ingredients for spell bottles to carry with you, add to your altar or in your home, or even bury them near your entrances and/or on your property. These are just a few examples of using salt in a magickal practice. Even adding salt to a meal can be magick.

Salt represents earth, so placing salt on your altar brings the element of earth to your magickal workings. By mixing salt and water, you can consecrate your ritual and sacred space before any spellwork. Walk clockwise around your sacred space to begin the ritual or spell work and sprinkle the water with your fingertips on the floor.

If you have troublesome neighbours that you want to stay away from, keep their distance or if they’re just making your life miserable, throwing some salt their way may help.

This can be helpful for keeping other people away such as acquaintances, bothersome co-workers, etc. Throw salt (table, coarse or black) at their front doorstep then turn away without looking back to keep troublesome neighbours at bay. If you can't get to their front doorstep, outline your property or the part of your property that is next to or faces your neighbour's property. Throwing salt in someone's footsteps can help prevent them from returning.

Do not place salt around your home boundaries, outside, as salting the earth kills it. Nothing will grow there. Also if you have pets that like to eat everything on the floor, then putting salt around your home might not be a good idea.

A simple solution to this is to place salt in a small glass or bottle (a shot glass will do).

Place it near the front door, back door, an adjoining wall to a troublesome neighbour or a windowsill. Placing the glass on a shelf can keep it out of reach from curious pets. Be sure to secure it safely to prevent it from being knocked over, such as by a curious cat. The salt will work its magick to absorb negativity like one of those“odour eater” containers that supposedly filter smoke out of the air.

Remember to replace the salt every moon cycle (or around that time) and dispose of it away from your property. This can be done by throwing the remaining salt into running water or in a bin, but away from your home.

Table (White) salt:

 White salt can come as coarse and table salt, which you can readily get at your supermarket. These are usually pretty affordable, and you can sometimes get them on sale or get value packs of them. White salt is an “all purpose” salt that you can add to spellwork, ritual workings and even cooking, especially if you're a kitchen witch.

White salt can be used for absorbing negativity, purifying,  banishing, protection, healing, Earth element, grounding, centering, cleansing, & luck. 

Black salt: 

Witches' black salt is a powerful substance and a favourite among witches. It is NOT edible because it’s made of your choice of salt and ashes. The ashes come from your firepit or herb bundle remnants. Some witches also use cast-iron scrapings from their cauldron and mix it into salt.

Not to be confused with Hawaiian black (lava) salt which can be used for cooking. Black salt has that extra added energy to break jinxes/hexes, or to jinx and hex,  banish unwanted people, and remove negativity but is primarily used for protection. It drives away evil and protects your home and belongings. Use it to create boundaries with your enemies. Warding, reversal spell work, uncrossing, binding work, journeying to the afterlife, honouring the crone, and many other workings use black salt. Black salt can also be used to return curses and negative energies back to its caster. Working with the dark moon.

Himalayan (Pink) salt:

Pink Himalayan salt is a rock salt from the Punjab region in Pakistan, the iron in the salt gives it its pink colour. It’s most commonly used in cooking, as cooking slabs for preparing meats/vegetables and as rock salt lamps. This type of salt is high in iron, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus and chloride. It has been known to be called the purest salt on earth as it has been maturing on the earth for 250 million years.  For magickal purposes, this salt can be used like any other salt such as for cleansing and healing, particularly as it’s infused with its pink colour. Attract love, Romance and Friendship, good for Self-love. Used in spells to release from attachment. It has gentle but strong grounding and Centering energies. Brings prosperity and abundance into a home. Open your third eye chakra.  Powerful warding agent, Fire element, hearth, happiness, purification, protection

 Sea salt: 

Sea salt comes from the sea, as its name suggests. Therefore it carries the power of the sea and the water element. You can find sea salt at nearly any grocery store for an affordable price. Sea salt can be used for spells and magick involving water, the oceans, rivers, lakes, marine life/mermaids/dolphins, etc., in addition to all other magickal and cooking purposes.  Sacred to water deities and used often in Sea Witchcraft.  Make herbal salt scrubs. Used to consecrate. Commonly used to make magick circles. Used for protection as well. Can be used in curses. It is associated with purity, protection, purification, blessings, Water element, release, cleanse negative feelings, health,

 Fleur De Sel: 

Also called flor de sal or flower sea salt. This salt forms from the first most fragile salt crust at the top of the seawater as it evaporates and is typically harvested by hand. It is quite expensive compared to most other sea salt but is more potent magickally. While it has the same magickal properties as sea salt, fleur de sel has more power when compared to an equivalent amount of any other sea salt. Primarily collected along the Mediterranean and French coasts. Pure white. Deeply purifying and cleansing. Use in place of table salt anywhere you want to add a little boost of power, Water element, blessing, balance, community, wealth, cleansing, protection, clearing, consecration,

Sel Gris: 

This is grey salt that comes from the Atlantic coast of France, primarily in the Brittany region. The colour comes from trace minerals absorbed from salt pond clay. Primarily collected from clay-lined salt ponds in France using traditional wooden tools. Varying shades of Gray. Moist and crunchy, very flavourful. Unrefined. Magickal Properties: balance, binding, curse-breaking, grounding, cleansing, & blessing,

Hawaiian Black (Lava) salt: 

Harvested from the evaporating water on the Hawaiian island Molokai. It is natural and has activated charcoal added to it, giving it that black colour. Absorbs flavour from food but can also absorb impurities and toxins from the body. Magickal Properties: Absorbs and dispels negativity and physical or emotional toxins. Can be added to spell work for extra power.

Epsom salt: 

Although included on this page, Epsom salts is not composed of sodium chloride nor is it even an actual salt. Rather, it is hydrated magnesium sulfate, another mineral, and is not used for culinary purposes. It does not have the magickal properties of regular sodium chloride salt and as such, shouldn’t be used in place of any of the other salts listed above. In magick, Epsom salts are typically used in magick baths and floor washes. Its magickal properties include: calming; curse-breaking; dispelling, especially negative energies; purification; soothing. Corresponds to: Purifying specifically the body, detoxification. Perfect for ritual baths.

Kosher salt: 

The main difference between regular salt and kosher salt is that kosher salt has been blessed by a Jewish rabbi. It is used in the kosher process of drawing blood out of meat, in compliance with Jewish religious law. Kosher salt is large and flaky and can be used in spell work to quickly draw out or absorb negativity (just as it absorbs blood from meat)! Corresponds to: Earth element, grounding, centering, blessing, cleansing, purification, protection

Alaea (red) salt:

Alaea salt is red and is used in Hawaiian cuisine and spiritual customs. The alaea added to the salt gives it its red colour and is actually volcanic clay that is rich in iron oxide. Hawaiians use this salt to cleanse their tools, canoes and homes. It is more difficult (and expensive) to purchase authentic Hawaiian alaea red salt, as most of it is now produced in California and not in Hawaii. Corresponds to: Fire element, blessing, strength, power, cleansing, purification, protection, libido, lust, passion,

Pickling salt: 

This is a common salt that has no added iodine or anti-caking agents. It is typically very fine-grained so as to make it dissolve faster in water to make brine. Its magickal properties are the same as any other non-iodized common salt. Corresponds to: Water element, preserving, cleansing, purification, protection

Kala Namak: 

Is a kiln-fired rock salt used in South Asia with a sulphurous, pungent smell. It is composed largely of sodium chloride with several other components lending the salt its colour and smell. The smell is mainly due to its sulfur content. Corresponds to: Fire element, absorbs negativity, dispels negativity, breaks curses, cursing, binding, banishing, cleansing, purification, protection

Read More

Moon water

What is Moon water?

Moon water is simply a container (usually a glass jar) filled with water (any kind of water, but remember that different types of water have different correspondences) and left out overnight under the light of the moon, either outside on your window sill. Make sure to bring the container of water in before the sun rises. The water in the container has now been cleansed and charged by the moon. 

Most people place their water under the full moon when the energies are at their most powerful but you can use any of the moon phases or lunar events to make the moon water, some people don't like to make moon water during an eclipse as the energy is quite chaotic but if you personally don't feel any negative emotional effects during an eclipse then it is OK to make moon water then. 

Water is one of the most programmable substances, humans themselves are 60% water and the moon is one of the biggest influences and amplifiers on our emotions and our energy. So by harnessing both the power and energy of the moon and water, we can benefit in many ways.

It can then be used for spellwork, drinking, water plants, sprayed as an energy cleanser and purifier for a room, object or yourself, cleansing and programming your crystals, heightening your intuition, amplifying your rituals or yourself if you drink it, manifesting, connecting with nature and the lunar cycles, making essential oils or blends, water your plants, daily energy or aura cleanse (in a spray bottle) use in your beauty routine, use it in your essential oil diffuser or burner, cook with it, drink it in tea, drink before bed to aid in lucid dreaming, scrying, potions, 

You can other items to your moon water to supercharge your intentions, things like herbs, crystals (make sure they are water safe and if you intend to drink the moon water make sure the crystals are not poisonous), salt, flowers, or even essential oils. You could create a sigil and draw it on the outside of the bottle or jar, or use a rune.

For example, if your intention was:

• Balance you could add - green ribbon, sage and basil, amethyst, and a few drops of sandalwood. Draw a rune of Gebo, Eihawaz or Tiwaz, 
•  Intuition you could add - make under a waning moon and use blue or purple ribbon, honeysuckle and chamomile, azurite and amazonite with a few drops of rosemary. Draw a rune of Kenaz
• Protection you could use - make under a waning moon and use white or black ribbon, bay leaf, lavender and garlic, fluorite and black obsidian and a few drops of eucalyptus and jasmine. Draw the rune of Algiz.
•  Creativity - a ribbon of yellow or orange, mistletoe and angelica, aventurine and lapis lazuli and a few drops of peppermint or patchouli. Draw the rune of Kenaz

How to make Moon water:

1. Get a glass container and make sure it's washed and rinsed out well especially if you plan on drinking the moon water. A mason jar, repurposed jam jar, a jug, or even a glass bowl.

2. Fill the container with water, and remember different types of water have associated correspondences so for extra oomph make sure your correspondences add up. Click here to read the post on Water Correspondence.

3. Leave it outside where is will get the max amount of moonlight, or on a window sill that again will get the most amount of moonlight.

4. Make sure to collect the jar before the sun's rays reach it. Store somewhere dark for up to 14 days. Be very careful what crystals, metals, herbs and flowers etc you put in your moon water if you planning to drink it some are poisonous. 

 

Read More

Correspondences

Magick is all about intent, and every intention, such as wisdom, self-love or protection has things that correspond to it. Things like herbs, crystals, trees, flowers, water, colours, zodiac signs, moon phases, animals, planets, tarot, chakras, deities, days and elements.

By combining some correspondences with your intention you power up your spellwork, harness more energy, and connect with nature, your deities, and yourself while also amplifying your intent into the universe.

We use correspondences in many ways for example, on our altars, to represent the elements you might have a bowl of water to correspond to the element of water and the direction of the west. If your doing candle magick and your intent is self-love you would use a pink coloured candle to represent self-love. If you're using crystals in a spell with the intent of knowledge/wisdom you could use clear quartz. If you wanted to do a spell for confidence you would choose the day of the week that corresponds to confidence (Wednesday). If you were making a spell jar with the intent of repelling negativity you could use herbs of sage, and Dragon's Blood, make it on a Saturday, with some black tourmaline and some black ribbon.

If you choose not to use correspondences in your spellwork that's totally fine, you don't have to there's not a rule stating all witches must do this or do anything for that matter. As with all aspects of witchcraft what you do and how you do it is completely up to you.

Below is a list of correspondence posts:

Colours

Water

Planets

Days

Salt

Deities

Herbs

Crystals and minerals

Incense and Oils

Moon phases

Read More

Water Correspondences

 

Water Correspondence 

Creeks and streams:  

Purification, harmony, cleansing

Dew:  

General health, eyesight, beauty. Dew is said to be especially powerful if gathered at dawn on Beltane.

Fog and mists:  

Creativity, balance, partnerships

Ice:  

Transformations, balance, creativity

Pond or lake water:  

Peace, contentment, relaxation, self-reflection.

Rainwater:  

Energy, protection, cleansing, (if collected during a sun shower it is also associated with balance and the first rain in the month of May (Aqua de Mayo is considered to bring good health, and luck, and is sacred to a Water Witch)

River water:  

Cleansing, moving forward, protection

Seawater:  

Health, magickal power, and the manifestation of goals. An old Welsh belief states that a spoonful of seawater a day will ensure a long and healthy life.

Snow:  

Transformations, balance

Spring water:  

Growth, holy water, cleansing, protection, prosperity

Swamp and wastewater:  

Banishing, binding

Waterfalls:  

Power, energy, success

Well water:  

Healing, wishes, intuition

Beaches:  

Rituals, spells, fascinations, meditations

Harbours:  

To promote abundance and prosperity; to serve as an aid in banishing things

Riverbanks:  

To increase personal power

Tears: 

healing, compassion, emotional upheaval, blessings, binding, fertility/pregnancy, self-reflection

Seasonal Rains

These are specific associations for rains collected on the day or night of a solstice or equinox which make them more rare.
Spring: New Ventures
Summer: Growth
Autumn: Gratitude
Winter: Blessing

Moon Water

In general, water charged under the moon is associated with feminine energies and intuition. Here are some associations with the specific phases:
New/Dark: curses, banishing, divination

Waxing Crescent: attraction, wealth, success
First Quarter: creativity, motivation
Waxing Gibbous: good health, attraction
Full Moon: Healing, cleansing, clarity
Waning Gibbous: undoing, cleansing
Last Quarter: breaking bad habits, banishing
Waning Crescent: wisdom, illness, balance

Note: you can also charge your water under full moons that correspond to your intentions. Examples- full flower moon for fertility, beauty, and feminine energy or a full moon in Aquarius for the added associations.

Sun Water: (Water charged from dawn til dusk) positivity, energy, power, strength, masculine energy.

Rose Water: (Either rain, dew, or snow collected from roses or condensation collected from boiling roses) love, protection, commitment, beauty, compassion

Gravestones: (water collected from grave sites) ease of loss, restfulness, burying or releasing feelings.

Monuments: (water collected at monument sites) remembrance, nostalgia, patriotism, loss

Rainbow: (Water collected during a sun shower while a rainbow is present) luck, wealth, happiness, fulfilment, positivity.

Read More

Creating Your Grimoire & Book of Shadows - Part 1

I thought I would elaborate a little bit about Grimoire and Book of Shadows, I've talked about what they are, and what the difference is between them, but as I was writing in my Grimoire this morning I was thinking back to the first Grimoire I ever made and I remembered how daunting it was starting one. So I figured I would talk a little bit about how to go about creating a Grimoire & BOS, how to select the type of book to use, what things you can use as a Grimoire & BOS, how to organise your book, how to decorate your book, what to put in it, and most importantly how to use your book.

I remember growing up and watching the TV show Charmed, they had the most beautiful Grimoire, and even now I see the prettiest books on Instagram and Pinterest, and I always think they are just so magickal, they look so impressive. Alas, I am no artist, I've got no talent at all in the department, I can't even scrapbook, I've tried, and it ended up looking like a 3-year-old had made it. 

But regardless of how artistic you are, you can create a beautiful and more importantly functional Grimoire. 

A BOS or a Grimoire?

This is often the first decision that needs to be made when first creating your Grimoire or BOS, you need to keep in mind what you are going to be using your books for, did you decide to have a BOS & Grimoire, or just one. Is your Grimoire going to contain all your knowledge and research and your BOS your personal account of your magickal journey that holds all your spellwork and rituals? Do you want different Grimoires that are topic specific, one for herbology, one for lunar magick, and one for correspondences?

Once you have decided on that then it will be easier to select the type of book you need. So from this point in the post onwards, I'm going to refer to a Grimoire as research and knowledge and a BOS as spells and rituals, but remember you can choose what to call your books,  or even if you want books at all you may decide digital is easier, you decide what information to collect and keep. You do what resonates with you.

Witchcraft is a never-ending journey of knowledge you can never “know-it-all”, there is always something else to learn or a new topic to be studied. Your knowledge will evolve naturally over time as will your craft. You may fill many many Grimoires and Book of Shadows you don't just have to have one. It’s actually a great trip down memory lane to look back over your past Grimoires and see not only how far you have come and the knowledge you have complied, but how you have evolved as a person and as a witch. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that when you first begin to walk a witchcraft path you may start off as Wiccan, or a Green Witch, etc, but as you grow and learn you will probably decide to branch out and learn and explore other paths. As you do this your Grimoire will reflect that. My first Grimoires and Book of Shadows were all Wiccan, then slowly morphed into what I am still practising today, eclectic, grey witchcraft. 

Selecting your Book.

Selecting the type of book to use for a Grimoire is tricky and usually witches will discover through trial and error what works for them and what doesn't.

I've tried a lot of different ways, handwritten large tomes that hold all my information, research, and spellwork in one place, I've tried two separate books, I've tried digital, I've tried typed pages that I printed out and put in a folder, a three-ring binder, I've tried a craft book, I've tried to make my own paper and bind my own book, I've tried a journal, and at one stage I even tried having notebooks that were just for one category but I ended up with over 20 notebooks. There are pros and cons to each choice, it's just finding what's right for you.

So the way to select your book is by thinking about 

1. What type of organisational structure do you want to follow

• Chronological order

• Write it down as you learn

• By topic

2. How do you want to record your information, knowledge and spellwork

• Handwritten

• Typed and printed

• Cut and Paste

• A mix of both

• Pictures like a scrapbook

• Digitally stored

• Do you want your book to be like a novel, a textbook, or an encyclopedia?

• Will you use paint, like watercolours? (Mixing the watercolours with moon water is a great way to imbue magick into your book.)

• Will you use a collage-type approach and forage from nature things like feathers, leaves and soil?

• Would you like the pages to have the same layout and style or will it be freeform?

3. What kind of personality do you have?

This one might sound silly, but, if you are organised and OCD like me with no artistic ability, a digital Grimoire is great once you have researched and got everything you need you can then copy it into a book of your choice or print it out. 

But if you don't mind a bit of chaos then writing it down as you learn it is a great way to go. Either way, a great tip is when you are preparing for a spell or ritual mark the pages you will need with tabs, and copy or print out the pages you will need for your ritual, this allows your spellwork to run smoothly and doesn't waste time flipping through pages until you find what you need. 

There are multiple items that can be used as a Grimoire, here's a list of some ideas:

• An art book

• A scrapbook

• A notebook

• A three-ring binder with clear protector sheets

• A handmade book

• A journal

• A digital Grimoire (apps like google drive, Evernote, Onenote)

• Make your own paper and bind your book

A digital grimoire is great as it takes up no space, it's easy to organise information, you can copy and paste information and pictures, and there's no need to worry when you make a spelling mistake. Just remember to back up in an external hard drive or use something like google drive and don't lose your passwords. I lost years of research as I wasn't backing up my digital grimoire and my laptop crashed, I was so devastated I nearly gave up. Lesson learned the hard way always back your files up.

Physical books take up space, are harder to organise your information and take more time to plan out but you can personalise them by adding your drawings, dried flowers, feathers, scrapbook style, or even paint in it with watercolours. They hold more power as you can put more energy and more of your essence into them. You don't have to worry about printing out pages, especially for spellwork and rituals, and it feels so magickal to actually hold your book in your hands.

Cleansing & Blessing your new book.

So you have decided on what to call your book, you have chosen the book itself, and now it's time to cleanse/purify and bless your book, this is the same process that your use for any ritual item you use or a tarot deck you might get. 

It doesn’t matter if your using a Grimoire and a Book of Shadows if one is purely for information and the other is for spellwork, it doesn’t even matter if your Grimoire is digital (Ipads, tablets, laptops and PCs, if they're used for any magickal workings, should all be cleansed and blessed).

Think of the cleansing and blessing of your book as the same as getting a new tarot deck, how many people have touched, held, and handled it? Those that have touched it, their energy has been transferred to it. Whoever created the book - their energy is on it, while it sat on a shelf how many people picked it up and held it, in fact, someone even had to unbox it and place it on that shelf, that's a whole lot of other peoples energy on your sacred book. 

You want to start off with cleansing because that's like a blank page, you can then bless the book imbuing not just your sacred energy into the book but creativity, positivity maybe even wisdom and knowledge whatever you feel is needed or wanted. A blessing also has the added benefit of protection, and you definitely want your books protected, your Grimoire is an extension of you, the more of your energy and your magick, that you infuse into your book the more powerful it will be. 

As I said before you cleanse your Grimoire with the same method you would a ritual tool or new tarot deck, there are a few different ways to do this, you can use, cleansing with smoke, crystals, sun and moon, salt, sound, and visualisation. To read the Cleansing post click here. While you’re cleansing your book with your preferred method, you can bless the book at the same time. Simply think of what your intentions are for the book. Do you want it to be protected? Will it hold your wisdom and knowledge? Will it be your guide and reference book while doing rituals? Will it be filled with your creative energy?

 

Organising your Book.

As with selecting the type of book, you use the way you organise it is a personal choice, there are a few different ways to organise your information, and each way has pros and cons. 

For instance, if you choose say a leatherbound journal that has parchment-like paper (like I did at first) once you put the information in you cant rearrange it, so if you arrange by category or topic as I do, either have all your research and information in a digital version or a handwritten version in another notebook ready to copy into your Grimoire or guess how much space to leave in that section for more information. If you don’t want to arrange your book by topic then this won't be an issue, but sometimes it's hard to find information about a particular topic if it's scattered all over the place.

My biggest suggestion when it comes to organising your Grimoire or Book of Shadows is to remember that your magick book is meant to be used, whether it's to reference information or in a ritual, so ease of use is the most important element. 

It is helpful for me when I start a new Grimoire or BOS to make a list of all the main topics I want to include in my book, and then all the sub-topics under those headings. For instance, under the main topic of divination, I would have the following sub-topics: tarot, runes, scrying, pendulums, palmistry, numerology and astrology. 

You can even make title pages, or divider pages to keep your book organised and its a great way to get creative.

Always leave the first few pages blank, they are your opening pages, and they will contain things like a page dedicated to you (I call mine the About Me page) dedication page, a protection page, a blessing page, a Witches Creed, and 13 goals of a witch if your Wiccan the Wiccan Rede and the Rule of Three. You don't need to have all or any of those things if you don't want them, it's up to you. 

So at this point, you know what a grimoire is, you have chosen what to call your magickal book, you have selected your book, you’ve cleansed and blessed your book and you have an outline of what topics to put in your book and how you will organise them. 

What is a Grimoire and a Book of Shadows?

Creating your Grimoire & Book of Shadows - Part 2

Read More