My Book of Illumination, or the birthing of.
Submitted by creidwy on Mon, 01/19/2004 - 10:17pm.
I'm attempting to create a formal Book of Illumination.
This is a pretty big deal to me.
The biggest thing I'm going to have to figure out is how to organize all this stuff.
Anyways, I got this really big, thick spiral journal thing that I'm going to soak in coffee tommorrow. That'll give the pages a neat colour and texture.
After that, [sigh] I have to organize everything...
I'm curious about how other people approach their BOS/BOI/grimoire/Whatever the hell you call it. So if you read this, do tell!
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It took me forever to even get started on one of these books. Spiral notebooks and printouts in a folder were it for a while. My info kept changing - I would have an idea of what I wanted and how I wanted it, and then I would re-think the whole thing and what I would use, blah blah blah... :-?
When I finally decided that this simply *must* be done, I picked up a large spiral-bound journal to put it all in. It's very classic - a black cover with a silver pentacle on the front, made to order by the store I worked for from a small company just for this purpose. (All very cool!) It's a good quality book. Right when I got the book, I found those old questions creeping up - primarily what do you start with, and how do you organize it all? This journal will be the one where I place the core elements of my "ways". What a tall order! It's definitely something you want to get *right*. The last thing one wants to do is start ripping out pages and all that.
The next logical step (and hopefully the one that would help me answer my other questions) was to start organizing my collection of "stuff" - my notebooks, my printed pages, my notes (made on random scraps of paper!) :jawdrop: Aargh!
At this point, I decided to make a "trial run" book, so to speak. I often found myself wanting to work on things when I was out-and-about (often at work, when I would try to remember the words to that cleansing I have that I could really use right at that moment...), so I picked up a smaller version of the same notebook. This one is silver, with a witchy/60's style "sexy cat" on the cover in solid black. (Guess you'd have to see it to understand the style that it's done in. Let's just say that it looks cool!) I also picked up a cool-looking pen to use *just* with that journal. (I'm a big fan of cool pens - though the way that they write is important to their overall "coolness".) I found a velvet tarot bag at work that fit my journal nicely. I used a black ribbon as a page marker by tying it to the spiral binding. The bottom is knotted with 3 sets of 3 beads each, and charged. In the bag, I have included a small bag containing a protection packet for the book.
Deciding what to put in this book was easy - I wanted a book that would contain writings that were useful to me when I'm on the go. I also wanted to include some of the more important pieces of writing - for instance, the first pages include a version of the Charge that pleases me, a great Charge of the God, one to the Dark Goddess, and one to the Horned God. Next comes a version of the Witches' Creed and the Nine Woods. Why? Well, these writings really speak to me. Most of these are things that I may use in ritual, but they are lengthy and I may forget parts. My travel book is something I can bring along to refresh my memory when I need it. Also, I had to consider the possibility that someday, someone may find this book and look at it. Although it is warded against harm and prying eyes, that is mostly focused on those who may steal it or not understand the contents. If someone were to pick this book up and look at it, I decided it would be best for them to first see that is is a matter of religion and spirituality to me, and not just about spells.
The rest of the book is for those things that are of use to me throughout my day or when traveling. It's not necessarily a spellbook; it's more for cleansings, blessings, invocations, chants - some spells could be included if they are of the type that can be easily done on the go.
Even now when I look at this book, I wonder about the contents - do these writings go with who I am now? Would other versions be more relevant to me at this time? It is exactly these questions that keep that big book sitting on my shelf, as yet unused. My little book is currently incomplete. This does not bother me though - plenty of room to add and subtract. Will I ever rip out pages? I can't say. It's always possible.
I have not failed in my quest to create my book, however. Several journals were given to me for free at the ol' bookstore because of warped covers. They weren't so bad that they couldn't be used, but they would not lay flat and they weren't selling, not even when discounted. I also purchased a couple of books that I found to be particularly beautiful. They sat on my shelf for a while; I wasn't sure what to do with them. I already had my book - it may be unused, but I still had it. So what was I going to do with all the others?
Well, after separating all of my various piles of information, (this took a while!) I was a bit flustered. I wanted to get this stuff into a book and out of my way. In particular, I had made lenghty notes on several Gods that I work with, and they were not in any way organized. Rather than leave this stuff lying around any longer, I grabbed a book, found a "special pen" for it, and started organizing and copying the info for the Gods.
Right now, this book is almost full. I have a table of contents system - I number the pages as I go, listing them on the front endpapers with the name of the deity and the starting page first. I then add, indented below the main listing, the pages where specific info starts, like an invocation or the correspondence list. This book (whose warped cover has since flattened out - yay!) is a valuable resource to me and will soon become "volume 1" of several, as I add my latest studies to its almost-full pages.
After realizing what a great idea this was (and how many random notes, unorganized notebooks and loose pages of info I just eliminated), I took all of those journals down from the shelf and gave each over to a single subject. Along with my Deity Book, I now have my Spell Book, my Recipe Book, my Chants, Calls & Castings book (all about the Circle...), and my Dragon Book. Other books stand ready to become either the next volume or the next subject in line. And, of course, each book has its own *special pen*....
My grand idea of having One Great Book may have failed, but I think I have found the way that works best for me. I do not have a Book Of Shadows ~ I have a whole library!
:-D
Blessings
~Berkana
Get a taste of religion.
Lick a Witch!