Grimoires: From One To Many

There always seems to be a basic formula to the witch archetype portrayed by the Mundanes (or the normal, average, everyday person). A woman who is grotesque physically, accompanied by her black cat, pointed hat on head, broomstick, bubbling green ooze filled cauldron, and a giant book with the title of one form of the other “spell book,”.

It’s a cliché stereotype of us witches, but there are some truths there.

The spell book, or more realistically called in the witchcraft community a Grimoire, book of mirrors, book of shadows, etc., is a staple that is necessary to help organize, focus, and aid the witch in their workings. I equate it to an all knowing utility knife due to its’ multiple forms, designs, and endless array of information enclosed.

The dictionary sums up a Grimoire as “a book of magic spells and invocations,”. This is a pretty weak offering of something that I find to be such a giant staple in my practice.

Yet, if I were to think of it more, isn’t that what every new witch (no shade) or Mundane thinks it is?

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

A Grimoire, in my observations and experience, is the holy grail of all that is knowledge on the journey of the craft. The all collector, the written testament of you and your unfolding, and the beacon for you to ground if you ever get confused or drawn off the trail. This sacred book is fortified with invocations, evocations, spells, oils, brews, symbolism, Sabbats information and procedures, thoughts, dreams and interpretations, divination spreads or tips, herb magick, and essentially fragments of your energy and soul.

Why the energy? Why the soul?

Think.

If you are an artist, and you are painting, sketching, toiling hours if not days all on one piece of canvas, would you not say this piece of art has a bit of your soul in it? When we focus on an object, pour our emotions (whether it be fear, happiness, or sorrow), push the essence of our time into it, and make our own brand of specialized art in it, we give traces of our energy signature and our spiritual essence in it. That object is an extension of us, and therefore it is energetically tied to you.

That’s the reason one feels extreme betrayal when another reads their diary, when a spouse becomes irate or heat broken when they lose their wedding ring, or when a person has a visceral reaction to their hair being cut.

It’s all about an exchange of energy and a cultivation of time.

This all applies to the Grimoire and the many folds it has.

Yet, again, new witches on the path and others believe they should only have one very huge and very expensive book made from the finest quality, stitched by the holy fingers of a monk who has fasted for 3 days and has spoken ancient hymns. 

Of course I’m joking, but some believe this to be true.

Truth is, your Grimoire doesn’t have to be expensive or giant, mostly because you don’t need to spend a lot of money for your craft tools and aids.

Your Grimoire can be a book from the Dollar Store or even one you crafted yourself with your bare hands.

What matters when choosing a Grimoire to work with, it is essentially to again focus on time and energy. You can transform a $1 book into a work of art that is connected to you through the time you devote to it. Not only that, sleeping with your Grimoire helps forming a connection too.

Additionally, to be frank, you will not have one Grimoire, but several.

To be a witch is to always be in a process of learning and mastery, and with that you will probably have more than 3 books you will be working on at a time. Your first book will not look the same as your second, or even be used in the same way as the third. And these sacred books of yours will come in different looks: a dream journal for dissecting and interpreting your nightly dreams, a regular journal to release your daily emotions and thoughts, a tarot book to chart your growth in the art, a book of art to help you purge and give form to your inner struggles, and many more.

The more I journaled, decorated, and added to my Grimoire, the more connected I felt to my book. Also, the more I wrote inside of my journal, the more in love with it I became. I even added my menstrual blood and hair to my Grimoire to form a stronger connection.

Placing your devotion into your book ascends it to higher levels no of the Mundane world, and invokes an air of magick when you bring it out in ritual or to add to it. Not only that, it helps that it can aid you through your ceremonies or spell work. 

However, before adding to your book, remember to sort out all the information you tend to add to it. I have a habit of bookmarking, favoriting, and emailing certain spells or correspondence to myself so I can add it to my book, but when it gets time to add, I’m all a miss because I don’t have all the information gathered already. 

Remember, this is all for you.

The Grimoire is a testament to you, about you, and for you. No one else. 

You can add whatever you like, whenever you like.

It is a special gift to yourself and you deity (if you work with one or follow one).

And, it don’t gotta be fancy or a gargantuan one.

Enjoy your Grimoire.

Erytheia Medea©

*All pictures belong to their respective owners*