Post by Lady Silver Vixen on Dec 16, 2010 14:41:01 GMT -5
The Magical Diary also known as the Book of Shadows
The Book of Shadows is the name used for a book that contains magical and religious texts in the religion of Wicca and certain other neo-pagan witchcraft traditions. Typically, a Book of Shadows contains the core rituals, magical practices, ethics and philosophy of Wicca within it, and more often a list of the witch's personal spells.
In British Traditional Wicca, which largely revolves around the structure of the coven, the book is traditionally copied by hand from that of one's initiating High Priestess or Priest, who copied theirs in turn from their initiator. In Eclectic Wiccan terminology, however, a Book of Shadows is a personal journal, though often serves in a similar capacity to that of traditionalists.
Within traditional lineage forms of Wicca there are a number of versions of the Book of Shadows, their contents varying to a greater or lesser degree from the early versions belonging to Gerald Gardner, who first popularized Wicca. While Gardner seems to have originally treated the book as a personal journal, it has come to be considered a religious text in most traditions.
In this lesson, we will introduce the magical diary...how it works, what it used for, how do we write it, and how do we read it. Well, think of it as a learning tool. This way, you can learn about yourself, and about your Magic. In a way, you are teaching yourself...you're the author, and the reader, and only you can read it and write it. The Magical diary can be written in your book of shadows (The book you keep your spells in (spell book)), or a special book - a diary. In the diary, we write our experiences with magic so that we can look back on what we did, and learn from it. When we write in it, on the first page of the paper, we write the following:
- The spell/ritual/exercise 's title,
- The whole process,
- and leave a space for the rating of the spell so you can rate it based on its results when the spell is cast and has taken effect. If it hasn’t taken any effect (not worked), you just write ''not working'' in it, or if you want to cast it again sometime, write ''try again'' instead of the rating.
On the other page of the paper, write the correspondences that were present at the time and place the spell was cast. for example:
- Moon stage,
- Date,
- Time,
- Day,
- Place,
- Anyone present,
- Mood,
- Tools you used, ect...
Under the whole thing, write your thoughts on the spell, and if it worked or not and your thoughts on the results of the spell. When you've written everything, and want to look back on it, you can see which correspondences suit you best, what kind of spells suit you best, which elements you work best with, and so on.
It's a VERY big bonus if you write your magical diary to look back into things later. It's never too
late to start one...very experienced witches still use the diaries after 30 years of practice, to look back on what spells they did and to even create a spell to brake a spell they did a long time ago, to rid of its effect. So you can see that the diary brings a lot of good things to your workings and you can learn so very much from it.
The Book of Shadows is the name used for a book that contains magical and religious texts in the religion of Wicca and certain other neo-pagan witchcraft traditions. Typically, a Book of Shadows contains the core rituals, magical practices, ethics and philosophy of Wicca within it, and more often a list of the witch's personal spells.
In British Traditional Wicca, which largely revolves around the structure of the coven, the book is traditionally copied by hand from that of one's initiating High Priestess or Priest, who copied theirs in turn from their initiator. In Eclectic Wiccan terminology, however, a Book of Shadows is a personal journal, though often serves in a similar capacity to that of traditionalists.
Within traditional lineage forms of Wicca there are a number of versions of the Book of Shadows, their contents varying to a greater or lesser degree from the early versions belonging to Gerald Gardner, who first popularized Wicca. While Gardner seems to have originally treated the book as a personal journal, it has come to be considered a religious text in most traditions.
In this lesson, we will introduce the magical diary...how it works, what it used for, how do we write it, and how do we read it. Well, think of it as a learning tool. This way, you can learn about yourself, and about your Magic. In a way, you are teaching yourself...you're the author, and the reader, and only you can read it and write it. The Magical diary can be written in your book of shadows (The book you keep your spells in (spell book)), or a special book - a diary. In the diary, we write our experiences with magic so that we can look back on what we did, and learn from it. When we write in it, on the first page of the paper, we write the following:
- The spell/ritual/exercise 's title,
- The whole process,
- and leave a space for the rating of the spell so you can rate it based on its results when the spell is cast and has taken effect. If it hasn’t taken any effect (not worked), you just write ''not working'' in it, or if you want to cast it again sometime, write ''try again'' instead of the rating.
On the other page of the paper, write the correspondences that were present at the time and place the spell was cast. for example:
- Moon stage,
- Date,
- Time,
- Day,
- Place,
- Anyone present,
- Mood,
- Tools you used, ect...
Under the whole thing, write your thoughts on the spell, and if it worked or not and your thoughts on the results of the spell. When you've written everything, and want to look back on it, you can see which correspondences suit you best, what kind of spells suit you best, which elements you work best with, and so on.
It's a VERY big bonus if you write your magical diary to look back into things later. It's never too
late to start one...very experienced witches still use the diaries after 30 years of practice, to look back on what spells they did and to even create a spell to brake a spell they did a long time ago, to rid of its effect. So you can see that the diary brings a lot of good things to your workings and you can learn so very much from it.