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I have a confession to make… I have started my “book of shadows” / “grimoire” / “spell book” (whatever you choose to call it) several times over the years and I have struggled with it since the beginning. I wasn’t inspired at all and for years, I started the same book over and over with the same or similar information. My books were bland and I didn’t feel connected with any of them. I wanted to make this happen for myself so much, but always abandoned the books that I was working on. I took a 10 year break from my practice for a number of reasons, until recently when I have begun exploring that path again. In addition to that, I have been art journaling (aka junk journaling) recently as a way to help relax throughout the week. So I thought, “why not put these two things together?”, I bought a second larger leather bound journal and began my “Art Grimoire” journey.
My art journal is a series of different things that are relevant to me at the time, based on small scraps that I find or stickers/paper that I like. I usually theme the page and they all turn out a little crazy, but mostly cohesive. It is art after all and art is really what you make it.
At the end of the day, I really enjoyed starting this journal so I started the Grimoire the same way, each page is a base layer with a collage and writing on each themed page. I wasn’t sure if it would work, but I am happy to report that it actually did! I was pleasantly surprised as it started coming together. Before I did anything else, I went online to look for some resources that I felt would be a perfect fit for my pages.
I came across two really amazing resources, The Holy Witch: Free Book of Shadows Downloads and Moon Street Kits: Paid Digital Downloads.
The Holy Witch offers new pages monthly, so you’ll need to check back for those free resources. They have spells, sabbats, rituals, correspondences and more!
These are the exact Moon Street Kits that I purchased: Book of Shadows Sticker Pack V5, Tarot Cheat Sheet and Witchy Herb + Plant Guide. They are all amazing and I absolutely plan on purchasing more from her store, like this Witchy Cocktail Guide.
When I started this adventure, I wanted to make sure I had all my basics covered in the front portion of the book, as a reference guide more than anything else. Moon phases, The Sabbats, Tools, etc. are to make up the front of the book.
The front page of the book is a dedication page that I dedicated to myself and my practice. It was important to me that I set my intention with this book in the very first page. While I don’t feel comfortable sharing that incredibly personal page, I felt that it was worth mentioning if you plan on starting one of your own.
One thing you must understand when starting this journey is that there is no right or wrong way to do this. I have been following my intuition through this entire process. I honestly don’t know which pages to do next, they just sort of come to me when I open this book and I begin a new entry almost as quickly as it’s opened.
Moving forward I wanted to dedicate every section, with intent, to the next entry. Protection for example was my first individual theme page. It features a little pocket with note cards that I intend to put recipes on, which I plan to do in other sections moving forward. I also wanted to leave some blank space in order to add more as I moved along my path.
All of the backing paper, stickers, frames, etc. are things that I have acquired over the years and a mix of things found in this list. These are just a few of the pages I have worked on that I feel comfortable sharing.
For the first time I truly feel a connection to my Grimoire that I just wasn’t feeling with my previous versions. I have been thinking about digging the old ones out and seeing if I could adopt some of those into this new version, but my path is so much different now that I don’t know that it would even matter. I hope this gives you some ideas for your own Grimoire, Book of Shadows or whatever it is that you call your own book. And I hope that this inspires you to do magic in ways that work for you because it’s okay to color outside of the lines when it comes to your own personal practices. Want to start one of your own? Now is the perfect time to grab a journal and follow your intuition!