Monday, March 14, 2011

Book of Shadows, Book of Light...

The beloved child has many names, and so does a witch's spell book. It can be called the Book of Shadows (BOS), Book of Light and Shadows, Book of Light, Book of Twilight, Book of Wisdom, Book of Spells, (sometimes the simple way is the best :-D), The Book of [which ever word you feel defines your magic best].
Book of the Dead and Mirror Book are other names for this book.
Goddess Unveiled might be a useful name for some people's Spell book.
The word Grimoire (Grammar) is often used of a book of magical wisdom.

At one point the witches felt "Book of Shadows" was "too dark", "too negative" word to be used of their personal magical journal, so some people created "Book of Light". Even though "Book of Shadows" refer to the fact that for centuries witches had to keep their art and craft hidden, not that the magic written in BOS would be dark and shadowy.

Also, I am the daughter of the Dark Goddess, so I believe in the power of facing our shadows, acknowledging and accepting that life is both light and dark, and controlling the smoke and mirrors that is in every person's life, especially in our minds. We all have been conditioned when we were children, by the people who controlled our upbringing. (These people are usually our parents and siblings, but some people don't have those, or those people are not present. Even these people have been influenced, brought up and conditioned by others. We all are.)

Nevertheless, I like the idea of dividing the magical life into dark and light, and having both BOS and BOL.

The structure of BOS is the same as the structure of BOL, but the purpose of BOL is to have something you can go to when the dark of life is too depressing. You are to start reading your BOL and be uplifted, reminded of the good things in life, the beauty, kindness and truth in world, all the happy and joyful things, things you enjoy and love.

* Get yourself a book, a binder, an album, how ever you wish your BOL to be. You can make every page as an artwork in itself, and bind them together into a book, or make an art journal; found the pages in beforehand and write and embellish afterwards. What ever rocks your boat.
* Decorate the cover and spine. Use colors and embellishments that make you happy, that make the book an object of beauty and joy, something you want to leave on the coffee table. Remember to make the book so that it speaks to your inner child. Use colors, images and embellishments you would have liked as 10 years old, or even younger. Think rainbows, sparkle and unicorns. Don't use black, even if your inner child is an Emo Goth. Use dark colors with iridescent effects, like oil in water, if you prefer dark colors, but don't use black.

* Write the title page, which says what book is this and what is its purpose, and bless the book.

Some suggestions on what to write in the book:

- lists of what you love, count your blessings, gratitude journal, things of bliss and cute overload.
Write down what makes your heart sing, even a little :-) Thoughts that made you smile. Sensations that made you happy of being alive and able to sense.

- make theme pages by your lists

- write down poems, song lyrics and quotation you find good, happy, joyful, soothing, gentle, kind, lovely, wise, funny, upbringing, comforting... words that make you feel good, okay, glad.

- write also down wise words, good advice and aphorisms that remind you of the reward of being good, kind, gentle and merciful.

- write your personal brag book; document the things you have done, achieved, created you are proud of.

- decorate and illustrate every page of your book. Every page should be an art journal page, scrapbook page, illustrated manuscript page, an artwork in itself, an artwork that makes you feel good, happy and appreciative of the miracles of Life. Use colors and pretty pictures. Make collages, add scraps and postcards and anything flat and pretty.

- don't be afraid of tears. Sometimes great joy and happiness is combined with sorrow.

http://www.utopiaskye.com/LS/Book%20of%20Light/light.html
http://www.ardrianacahill.com/cbol/bol.html

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