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Who else has a GRIMOIRE?


GreatDane

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moderngypsy
23 minutes ago, AnomalyTempest said:

I am in the process of something similar though I'm using file folders. My system is becoming so large, I'm having cross-referencing issues. Sometimes I want to look up readings or notes based on the deck,  or who I read for, or sometimes I'm just looking for general info on the cards. Trying to cross cross reference everything like that longhand would be time consuming at least so I'm working on getting my notes into Scrivener documents which are easily changed and linked. I can then design the pages for the book I want to hand make, and/or I can print it all out and put it in a notebook that takes much less paper than writing it all longhand because I just like having a hard copy.

That would be really time consuming! I plan on keeping my tarot journal completely separate from this system. This is more for crystals/herbs/oils/recipes and spells and spiritual/witchy stuff. I’m thinking of having an index in the front of each binder, and since these will all be separate “books” I’m hoping it will be easy to reference!

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Very interesting topic! Thank you all for sharing your ideas, I always find it very inspirational to read about other people's systems! 

My "grimoire" is a bit unordinary ... I started several "traditional beautiful blank books" grimoires over the years and was never happy with any one of them. I obsessed about making them beautiful and aesthetically pleasing and when I messed one page up, I got frustrated. The books were never "working books" for me but art projects which took up their own life and did not contain any useful information. Bound books had another disadvantage for me: If my research interests or my general practice changed I had no idea how to put these new topics in the book. For example: I started learning about oil recipes and herbs. But then, my interest shifted to runes. Should I just stop where I was in the book and continue with runes?! Should I leave some blank pages? How many? Surely, I will come back to oil recipes in another point in time ... Things like that drove me crazy!!

 

Then, one day I watched a YouTube video in which the person stated, she used a ring binder as a grimoire. That instantly made total sense to me so I went out, got a nice black Filofax and never looked back.

Now, I can pursue whatever I want and group the topics and pages together as I see fit. Nothing is fancy or beautiful (I somehow don't feel the urge to make the thing Instagram pretty) but the content is extremely valuable and useful to me. This format supports my natural way of learning: writing things down. When I read an interesting book, I take notes which reflect the way my brain works and to which I can come back again later. This way, I create my own little library inside the binder. I never would have done that with a bound book because my notes take up a lot of space and pages and I felt like I "wasted" the space. Now, I can also change the order of chapters or topics even while I work on them. I have never been so happy with my stationary 😄

 

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Raggydoll, that's awesome! Love dotted drawings!


I differentiate the terms "Grimoire" and "Book of Shadows".

 

My Grimoire is electronic, on two large Microsoft Word documents. One is about everything related to my spiritual Witchcraft and Druidic practices. Part 1 is theoretical notes (Rules, Dieties, Elements, Sabbats, Herbs and Crystal Lore, Tools, etc.), Part 2 is about practical magick (Devotions, Circle casting, Sabbats/Esbats rituals, witchcraft spells, etc.). This file has 903 pages and has an ever growing glossary and timeline of important events. This one is "complete" but I update the glossary/timeline often.

 

The second file of my grimoire are the Parts 3 and 4, which are about Divination (Tarot, Runes, Ogham, I Ching, Ouija, Crystal Ball, etc.) and Spiritual Empowerment (Meditation, Aura, Chakras, Empathy, etc.). It is updated quite frequently, so I don't print it for now. This one is incomplete and has 609 pages at the moment.

 

My Book of Shadow is my personal diary, written by hand, every day! In this one I record my practices, the spells I've done, what I'm currently studying and also my divination castings. I have a new book of shadows every years ( I use large datebooks).

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My grimoire is a collection of items. I have a big ring binder and several journals of varying sizes. None of it is fancy, and each item reflects how my practice has changed over the years. My favourite is a small, soft-cover, stitched journal I bought at Wilkinson's! In it, I've compiled some of the highlights from across all the books...sort of my greatest hits. 🙂 I've reserved some pages in the back so that I can index it when it is full. If it ever is! 

Edited by Carla
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This thread has been a joy to read. I am planning to start a Grimoire in a Midori Traveler's Notebook – I just love the lightweight paper inserts and that I can easily swap them out. I've been using the cover for different things over the past years, so it's got a lovely "used" look already. It never occured to me to search for Grimoires on Pinterest … … … down the rabbit hole I go …

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If you want to go down a rabbit hole that involves more than decorating blank books, try this link to and view the full text of early grimoires: https://www.sacred-texts.com/grim/

 

Here is a spell from the Pow-Wow grimoire of the early 19th century. You'll need a black chicken, a bit of cloth covered in a virgin's menstrual blood, an egg laid on a maundy Thursday, a whole lot of beeswax, and an 8 quart pot with lid, but your house will never burn down!  https://www.sacred-texts.com/ame/pow/pow112.htm

 

 

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32 minutes ago, Carla said:

(...) but your house will never burn down!  https://www.sacred-texts.com/ame/pow/pow112.htm

 

 

😋 I think I might prefer a smoke detector. Thanks for pointing out sacred-texts.com, I have that bookmarked somewhere, but my folders are a hot mess. (Seems a great idea to start a pen and paper journal if I can't even keep my computer neat...)

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Hoping to revive this thread.

 

Been awhile since I added to my journal, Grimoire, whatever anyone calls their special book they add spells, things they've come across, etc. 

 

Anyone starting a journal/Grimoire?  Add to it regularly?   Usually add something you've created or changed a bit or just add something verbatim you've seen?   

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2 hours ago, GreatDane said:

Hoping to revive this thread.

 

Been awhile since I added to my journal, Grimoire, whatever anyone calls their special book they add spells, things they've come across, etc. 

 

Anyone starting a journal/Grimoire?  Add to it regularly?   Usually add something you've created or changed a bit or just add something verbatim you've seen?   

 

After attending an esoteric workshop, I sometimes type out & paste in - summaries of the bits I found most interesting/usable.

So... the most recent bit is on something about Tarot in spellwork.

 

My current Book is almost full & I have a new one standing by - which I bought at a market some years ago (good memories of just wondering around the market looking at everything in a luxuriously carefree manner - sigh).

It has a cute black cat on the leather cover with a sort of "ye olde worlde" looking hinge lock on it. It's quite tactile...

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Sounds grand, Tanga!  And tactile is a fav word of mine as I am VERY tactile.  I will just sit and shuffle a deck, love the feeling of the cards.  Love textures.  Love the heft of even plain, but cool-looking rocks I find.  

 

Sounds like you have a great way of adding things to your special book(s)!

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TheLoracular

I keep an online journal and use Pininterest to collect a lot of stuff.   But I recently felt the inspiration to start a physical paper-based grimoire of sorts again for the first time in probably 30 years. 

April 21st is both my daughter's 30th birthday and my second Covid vaccination.  That feels like a really good launch date and something that I can specifically dedicate as wisdom and lore I want her to read and do with as she pleases after my passing.  

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What a great idea, TheLoracular!  To me personally, it can be a called a journal, Grimoire, heck, I don't know what WiseWomen in centuries past called their books of helpful herbs and advice on illness, etc.  I actually have more than one journal, one is more a bit of big events to me for perhaps a year or longer, I have one that I have things re energy, some could call it spells, but it's just about things I find interesting, useful regarding using energy in some way.

 

I really love the idea of you passing your special book to your daughter, having it go through generations.        

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I have started a handwritten “grimoire” last Yule… my idea is to write down the things I know plus the new things I’ve been learning since my return to the Craft. I am more of a word/poetry person, so I don’t draw a lot (my drawings are just informative, really), but I would like to have an illustrated session on herbs. I just need to learn how to draw them first. 😅

 

Oh, and it’s all written in BR Portuguese, which is my mother language.

 

The notebook itself is nothing fancy. Hardcover lined book with light green cover. It has an elastic to keep it closed and a ribbon page marker. The pages edges are silver.

 

I did choose a small notebook on purpose. My idea is not having EVERYTHING written down there, but the important stuff I’d like to take with me easily and that are important marks in my practice. For everything else there’s always Google! 

 

Edited by marinaoracles
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