Book of Shadows

Use 3x3 paper Black ink pen / pencil String Black (or white) candle

Cast a circle if that’s what you usually do. (It’s not necessary, just start out with what you’re most comfortable with) Light the black (or white) candle and say: For myself to be free I need [name] away from me Take you piece of paper and write the name of the person to be bound on it. (preferably their full name) While you do this visualize the face of the person in your mind. When you have written the name, cross it with a symbol that represents them or connects them to you. Fold the paper twice and tie it with the string. Raise it to your temple and chant three times: For me to be protected from you This magic charm I will do With these words I bind thee To keep you from harming me

At this point you can either burn the seal or put it in a glass jar. While doing so say:

« • Forefinger (Index Finger) — Ruled by Jupiter and the Oak, this finger is held to denote the Holy Ghost or Divine Spirit and accordingly did priests once wear rings on this finger as a sign of their office, likewise is a band worn on this 'wilful' finger said to indicate boldness of spirit.

• Fool's Finger (Middle Finger) —Ruled by Saturn and the Holly, this baleful finger rarely bares a ring, although Graves says when worn on this finger it naturally expresses a hope of resurrection. It is also known as the digitus impudicus after its use as an aggressive sexual insult, its form suggestive of the upright phallus, hence its use as a gesture to avert the evil eye. Intriguingly the Hand of the Mysteries depicts this, the longest finger, with a sun above it, and likewise do images in the Richel Collection show it as variously having a sun symbol, a triangle of dots or a glowing red tip.

• Ring, Leech or Physic Finger — Ruled by Apollo (the Sun) and Hazel, this finger was used in the 15th century to stir, taste and apply medicines, whilst stroked on wounds would speed heal- ingiyo. It is known as 'the ring finger' for it is upon this digit that the solar golden wedding band is popularly worn, sometimes by religious persons to denote 'marriage' to their patron god(s).

• Auricular Finger (Little Finger) — Ruled by the psychopomp Mercury and Apple, this finger is said by Graves to be divinatory and almost necromantic in nature, for when it is used to stopper the ear as an aid to inspiration it gives rise to mysterious whispers within which secrets might be discerned. A ring worn on this finger is said to denote a masterful spirit.

• Thumb — Ruled by Venus and Hawthorn, the Romans and Greeks wore their iron seal-rings upon this finger as a charm to preserve virility; the thumb evoking the phallus and the iron ring denoting the smith-god Vulcan, husband of Venus. In images of the Hand of the Mysteries the thumb is depicted as being crowned, denoting the dominance of the will over the four elements, that is to say the one thumb over the four fingers, as expressed in the saying 'under the thumb'. »

The witch arrived, she was a pleasant old lady who was holding a plant in her hand for some reason (she probably found some neat wild plants on the way to our house), burned some incense, took a quick look at my brother’s leg and told my mom he caught the interest of a water spirit.  Apparently, water spirits can be really curious and would take fancy on people who are “strangers in their territory”. My mom remembered, my brother liked to play in this weird old spring near our house (I say weird and old because it looked kind of like a stone bath tub filled to the brim with moss, the water would come from a hole between one of the rocks and it would overflow into the ground where it drains into another hole. The water was always so cold and clean so you could use the water to bathe in or drink directly from the tub. Though I never did that because I was always afraid something would pull me from the thick moss) This isn’t an exact image but it looked kinda like this (with past me in a bowl cut to scale)

A Spell to Reverse Love:

This can reverse a love spell that has been cast, or can simply reverse someone’s feelings even if no spell was cast. This should be performed during the waning moon.

Ingredients:

White candle.

White silk.

Pen.

Method:

Write the person’s name on the side of the white candle. Light it, and say:

This candle burns away your loveSo mote it be by the Goddess above.

-by Semiramis Magpie

Cleansing a new tarot deck with incense smoke.

Us witches have an almost compulsive thing for cleansing. Feeling bad? Cleanse. New tool? Clense. Long trip? Cleanse. Buying herbs? Cleanse. Finished ritual? Cleanse. New moon? Cleanse.

And, I mean. I’m not one to speak. I’ve done two major posts talking about alternative cleansing (that you can see here and here), but after seeing some people talking about when to cleanse, I thought I’d say something about it.

Here’s the thing: You don’t need to cleanse *all* the time.

Cleansing gets rid of accumulated energy in a certain object, place, or person. It restores it to its original state, to a point of neutrality.

This also means that cleansing anything you’ve charged will get rid of that extra energetic boost. Sun charged crystals become simple crystals, moon water becomes simple water, etc.

I sun charged my Art Nouveau tarot deck before I started using it.

So it’s important to note that while cleansing is fundamental and useful, sometimes it’s not necessary and even not recommendable.

Instances in which you should definitely not cleanse are:

When acquiring an antique: cleansing it will make it as if it where brand new (energy wise). So there’s no point on in being an antique. TRUST YOUR INTUITION. If you bought/found/got the thing because it called to you, believe you can handle its energy. Don’t cleanse “just to be sure”.

I found this old dagger/letter opener and didn’t cleanse it. Instead, I bound it to me and now I use it as my athame.

When something gets passed down to you: Inherited objects carry a history. Like in the previous case, you should try to hold onto that energy. However, in this scenario you already have an idea of what the item’s past was like, so you can choose to let go of it or not.

This ink bottle and calligraphy pen belonged to my grandmother when she was in elementary school back in the 1940s. Cleansing them would get rid of her influence and they’d just be old writing instruments.

Divination tools: sometimes divination tools have their own energy, and unless someone else has touched them, cleaning the slate is unnecessary. Arguably, our tools grow with experience, like us. By cleansing them, they go back to the beginning. This is why some witches never allow anyone to touch their tools.

I found this old, rusty key, and I use it during my bone readings. I don’t cleanse it since I don’t let anyone else touch it. I feel it has a history, and a personality that cleansing will simply erase.

Working with body parts and even plants: when the past of the dead object is relevant, cleansing it defeats the purpose. A cleansed cat skull doesn’t carry the essence of that cat, it’s just generic, a random cat skull. No history, no story. This is especially important to remember when doing bone readings. Cleansing (not the same as cleaning) the bones strips away the portion of the soul they belonged to. We DON’T cleanse bones for this reason. In fact, some witches believe that bones are the only divination tools that are safe to be handled by others because they’re not ours to begin with. Every bone reading is a favor asked to a long gone life. If the soul has an issue with whomever is handling it, then the bones simply won’t answer their questions.

Pieces of my bones collection.

Ask yourself if cleansing is necessary before doing it. What do you expect will come out of a cleanse? Will it improve the status of the item?

This also applies to places, including haunted places. Is the entity doing any harm? Why are you kicking it out?

Sometimes, preexisting energies will bring a lot to the table. Let yourself trust the influence of the ones that came before you. Instead of cleansing the item, try re-purposing or transforming the energy.

Summarizing: Cleansing, good. Cleansing too much, missing opportunities.