Over the past week we spent time laying out our grimoires and developing a rough draft for our table of contents. There are several really great resources out there to help you figure out how to organize your grimoire. Upon doing some research, I decided to use LaPulia's Book of Shadows as a guide. Now this is a Wiccan book and therefore many sections or pages wouldn't be included in my book, but it is a really great, comprehensive table of contents. Their Traditional Witchcraft Grimoire also has some really great ideas that I will be using as well. Another great resource for organizing your grimoire is The Dance at Alder Cove's table of contents. This list is pretty comprehensive as well, providing you with some ideas if you aren't sure where to start.
Right now I have only organized and planned a couple sections. The reason for this is that planning too far in advance and jumping around while working could come back to bite you in the butt if you are working with a bound book where you can't easily move pages. This is what I am working with and as I work on a little bit at a time I have already found myself moving things around. The current sections I have planned are listed in order below:
Title Page
Table of Content
The Craft (section title)
Dedication
Blessing
Pentagram
Witch's Creed
What is a Hedgewitch?
13 Goals of a Witch
Self Dedication (to the craft)
Basics of Magic (section title)
What is Magic?
Magical Theory and Technique
Grounding and Centering
Energy
How to Direct Energy
Meditation
Pathwalking
Hedge Riding
How to Hedge Ride
Ways to Reach Altered State of Consciousness
Three Realms of Otherworld
Hedge Riding Prep and Etiquette
Animal and Spirit Guides
My Guides
The Elements (section title)
Earth Intro
Tools of Earth and How to Use with Other Elements
Earth Correspondences
Air Intro
Tools of Air and How to Use with Other Elements
Air Correspondences
Fire Intro
Tools of Fire and How to Use with Other Elements
Fire Correspondences
Water Intro
Tools of Water and How to Use with Other Elements
Water Correspondences
Spirit
Sabbats (section title)
Wheel of the Year (picture)
About the Wheel of the Year
Samhain Introduction
Samhain History and Lore
Samhain Traditions
Samhain Correspondences
Samhain Plants
Samhain Recipes
Samhain Crafts
*I have not finished my Sabbat planning because I am not sure how many recipes and crafts I would like to include at this time.
As I mentioned in Organizing Your Grimoire, you should have made room in the first couple pages for a dedication and a blessing, which you can see I did. One of the first things to put in your book is your dedication. Now this isn't a dedication to the craft, but a dedication to working on your grimoire and continuing to learn. Your Self Dedication will be your dedication to the craft. The dedication featured within the first page or two is basically a promise to yourself, the deities you believe in, and your grimoire that you will continue to learn and grow as a witch.
During the next two weeks write your dedication and decorate the page(s). Begin your rough draft on a separate sheet of paper. If you are working with a digital format, work right in your book. Spend time reflecting on what you want to say. It can be in the form of poetry or prose; whatever speaks to you. I prefer poetry so my dedication is written in such a format. Are you going to ask the elements for guidance in the creation of your grimoire? Air is associated with wisdom, fire with inspiration, water with justice, and earth with patience. What about any deities? Apollo, Euterpe, Bragi, Kvasir, Brigid, Sarasawti, Tir, Seshat, Al-Kutbay, Nabu, and Nidaba are all gods and goddesses of writing and poetry from various traditions. Requesting their aid in the assembly of your grimoire would be wise if you follow their tradition. Are you going to dedicate the grimoire to one of these deities or just Mother Earth? What would you like the pages to be filled with? Why do you want to complete your grimoire? Remember to refer back to your Mapping Your Magical Path for guidance in the creation of your dedication.
Once you have written your dedication and are happy with it, transfer it to your book in your best handwriting (or type, print, and paste it). Then proceed to decorate the page. Feel free to use symbols associated with inspiration and writing such as the rune Ansuz or the sun. Prefer more natural symbols? Draw Begonias to encourage deep thoughts, Black-Eye Susans for encouragement, Irises for inspiration, or Hazel and Maple for wisdom. Be sure to fill this page with your energy. As you work, envision your energy filling the pages. The color of your energy is entirely dependent on your personality. Mine tends to be green and gold and occasionally pink, yellow, or gray. Funny how these are the same colors I have used to decorate my entire home and my grimoire.
How did you end up organizing your grimoire? Share below in the comments, email, or through Facebook. And good luck writing your dedications!
Mastering Your Grimoire Series Posts:
very nice confetti paper.
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Is it necessary to put in a dedication page? Or go for a lot of the same things in this article? I'm a fairly new to witchcraft so I still don't know much about it and I just started my BoS/Grimoire and seeing this, I'm worried if I have a lot of things wrong. (I know that there is not right or wrong in Witchcraft but I just want to be on the safe side.. know what I mean?)
ReplyDeleteYou can organize your BoS or grimoire however you like. If you want to skip pages or create it more like a journal with entries on random things then that is fine. The book is for you, no one else, so make it however you wish. I wanted a dedication page as a way to affirm that I would be completing my Grimoire and would routinely work on it. As you said, there is no right or wrong way in witchcraft. It is entirely up to you what you include in your BoS or Grimoire. Good luck and thanks for reading!
Deletereally nice.
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