covenrochester | Entries tagged with spellbook

Spellbooks

As a collector of spells (and, certainly, a caster of spells), I often have a great number of spells pile up on my shelf. I wait until I have enough to make it worth unbinding and rebinding the spellbooks all of a single afternoon or evening. It also gives me a chance to discard anything from the pile that I do not think is worth keeping. The Great Unbinding and Rebinding of the Books happened this weekend. In the above photograph, the book bound in yellow leather is the Book of Air. Clockwise from that, in blue, the Book of Water. Clockwise from that, in green, the Book of Earth. Under the Book of Earth, in red, is the Book of Fire. Clockwise from that, Coven Rochester's Book of Rites. All of these books are adjustable, which means I can unbind and bind them, add and subtract, as much as I like. They can hold about 3 inches of material Anyway, lots of material got put into the books this weekend. The shelf is clear, and it always feels good to get stuff put away.

Leaves of Comfrey, Symphytum uplandicum

I also made a Comfrey Lotion. The above picture was taken last summer, when I was making a Comfrey Ointment out of fresh Comfrey leaves from my garden, and coconut oil. The Lotion I made from dried leaf and chopped dried root, simmered very low in a double boiler in olive oil, for over three hours. I then strained it, added 1 ounce of beeswax for every cup of Comfrey Oil, and then 1 cup of Comfrey Tea for every cup of the Oil/Wax combination. I beat this mightily with an electric mixer, until it emulsified into a lotion. I added preservative, and beat it all mightily again. And a lovely Comfrey Lotion resulted. It will last until we have more fresh leaves growing in the months to come. Some people say that you can use tincture of benzoin or vitamin E as a preservative for lotions. I've tried, but they fail, even when refrigerated. The only thing that I have found that works is commercial preservative. It's either that, or stick with wax/fat ointments and forego lotions.

I worked in the Magic Circle both nights, doing healing and precognitive work.

I taught horary astrology in Ghana on Saturday.

*** Blessed be to those who serve the Great Mother and the Horned Father.

* Copyright to Coven Rochester

This is the seventh section of the current spellbook I am making for someone. It includes the following:

The Witch's Birthmarks
-- As the baby's head emerged from the womb, the midwife, if she were a Witch, would look for a birthmark on certain parts of the face to see if the baby was a witch being reborn to the Craft.

Various Chants and Invocations
-- The Card Reading Charm
-- To Enchant an Herb
-- A Spell Binding
-- The Candle Lighting Charm (and so on)

The Table of Fortunes
-- giving the fortunate numbers, days, and gems for every birthdate

The Witch's Brooch
-- What it is, how made, what it does

The Witch's Year
-- Questions to consider at eight specific times of the year

The Years of Witchcraft
-- a way of counting years in the Craft, similar to the Chinese Animal Zodiac, but based on the number 9

Invoking the Mothers
-- There are few powers in the Universe greater than that of Motherhood.

Storm Raising, Storm Catching, Storm Cutting
-- One of our traditional arts.

The Magic of Water
-- with a special emphasis on Storm Water.

Making and Using Magical Powders
-- Usually made by grinding together soil or dust with certain dried herbs or other substances (shells, molted serpent skin, etc.)

The Ritual Bath
-- As taken from a Witch's Workbook in the 19th century.

Witches of the Past
-- I chose twelve photographs.

*** Blessed be to those who serve the Great Mother and the Horned Father.

* Copyright to Coven Rochester

Book No. 1: The pages here are dyed with the juice of the berries of Phytolacca Americana. The poisonous root of the plant is used by Witches in my country to make an immune system stimulant.

Book No. 2

I have purchased many blank magic journals from this artist. Here are two of the three I purchased most recently.

I am very zealous about keeping the Old Ways alive, so what I do is fill these little books with traditional spells, some lore, and witches' proverbs, and give them away as gifts. Usually to nonwitches who need a little magical help in their lives, but occasionally to a newly-initiated Witch as a gift from the Coven.

I use a lot of ink and a lot of glue, but I think it is worth it to fill something with real, workable knowledge. I like her books because I can paste completed, printed parchment onto each page, and yet not have the book so full that the binding is stretched.

*** Blessed be to those who serve the Great Mother and the Horned Father.

* Copyright to Coven Rochester

I think I can fit almost all of this on 10 pages of a big spellbook gift.

To Reverse Bad Luck
To Bring Peace and Purity to a Home
To Remove Blockages Holding You Back
The Dog of Defense Invocation
To Return a Psychic Attack or Negativity
The Wicked Shall Decay (19th century, Devon, England)
To Protect an Item from Theft
The Comfrey Root Talisman
To Burn Away Evil or Negativity (Roman/Latin)
To Break a Curse (Maori)
A Curse Breaker (Babylonian)
A Protection Bottle
Herbal Hexbreakers
-- To Purge a Love Hex
-- To Counteract a Hex Delivered in Food or Drink
-- To Send a Curse Back to its Maker
-- To Purify the Home of a Hex
-- To Avoid Impending Evil
-- To Purify a House of Ill Luck
The Iron Key Amulet
To Break a Curse by Fire
The Circles of Light
To Unbewitch Men and Cattle (17th Century . . . still works great!)
The Turnabout Bottle

Breaking a curse by fire is fairly easy. There is also a great cursebreaker done by fire and water, and I will tell you about it now.

There are many curses that require that the curser leave something at the house of the person to be cursed. Perhaps a poppet, perhaps a carved apple, a beef tongue splashed with ghost pepper sauce and pinned together by nails, maybe just a piece of paper, maybe a letter mailed to the house with some stuff in it (sometimes as simple as a few grains of salt and pepper, or dirt from another state or country), the stump of a burned black candle, a cairn of shame made of small rocks. I've seen it all. Whatever you find, go get a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid that will fit the object. As small a jar as will be serviceable, mind you. Wearing gloves, pick up the item and put it in the jar. Fill the jar 50% to 75% with water. Add a tablespoon of vinegar. Add to it nine pins, nine needles, and nine iron nails. It would be lovely if you could get the iron nails from a working blacksmith. His art of shaping and reshaping by fire and water has made him half-magical, himself, and he will understand that other magical people sometimes need a bit of iron. Make sure the jar is lidded tightly. Let it sit for three days to marinate and rust.

During the day, build a small campfire somewhere safe. Wear thick boots. Bring work gloves. When it is burning nicely, set your sealed jar in the fire, and then clear out, preferably very well shielded and blocked. The sealed jar, of course, is going to explode and, when it does, it is going to send pins, needles, and nails flying everywhere. When you hear the explosion, you will feel a release in your heart or solar plexus. Feel free to say a phrase of your own making: "Thus I send the curse back to whence it came!" or "The curse is deadT" or "It is done!" or "So mote it be!" or "Take that, you knucklehead!" Whatever you like. After the explosion, put out the fire or let it die out. Clean up as best as you can. Throw any remains in the garbage.

This is not used much anymore, I have to say. Apart from finding a safe place to set off a glass grenade filled with pins, needles, and nails, it is very difficult to clean up. It is unlikely you will get all the glass and sharp objects. Who knows whereunto they might have exploded off to? and that means you will be leaving a bunch of sharp stuff around in nature. Which isn't very nice.

Still, it is worth telling the story and knowing the technique. If you ever need it, perhaps your own ingenuity will suggest a safe way of accomplishing the same effect. Throwing the jar down the caldera of a volcano, then running like heck? Maybe.

*** Blessed be to those who serve the Great Mother and the Horned Father.

* Copyright to Coven Rochester

If I had to narrow down Health and Healing spells to fit onto ten pages for a gift spellbook, this is what I would do:

The Charm of Nine Measures
The Horseshoe Charm
To Ease an Affliction of Mind or Body
The Oak Earth Charm
The Abracadabra Spell
To Unfix a Poison
The Apple Potion
The Healing Sachet
To Bring the Peace of Health (an old spell brought to Portugal from Ghana)
The Longevity Tree Spell
To Brighten Youth
To Turn Away Death
The Egyptian Crossing Prayer

*** Blessed be to those who serve the Great Mother and the Horned Father.

* Copyright to Coven Rochester

If I had to narrow down Money and Job spells to fit onto ten pages for a gift spellbook, this is what I would do:

To Acquire Wealth
The Stalks of Riches
A Talisman for Money
The Hen's Foot Spell
To Cause a Business to Prosper
To Attract Customers to a Store
To Obtain any Material Good
To Secure Employment
For Skill in a Particular Job
To Gain and Hold Work

*** Blessed be to those who serve the Great Mother and the Horned Father.

* Copyright to Coven Rochester

If I had to narrow down Luck and Wishes spells to fit onto ten pages for a gift spellbook, this is what I would do:

The Fish-Hook Spell
The Spell of the Seven Secret Stones
To Make a Wish Come True
The Lucky 3s Spell
Luck Powder Recipe
The Mushroom Charm
To Obtain a Desired Position
The Fire Circle
The Greening Bath
The Talisman-Making Spell

Most of these are quite old. To Make a Wish Come True is an easy spell from a Witch's Workbook from the 19th century. The Talisman-Making Spell also came from her book. It is a way to charm any object with any named magical power, like attracting men, finding money, or success in work. The Fire Circle is also hers.

*** Blessed be to those who serve the Great Mother and the Horned Father.

* Copyright to Coven Rochester

For a gift spellbook, I have narrowed down the spells of this section to:

A Multi-Purpose Love Spell
A Word About Love Potions, with Two Examples
The Seven Drops (a famous love potion)
The Clove and Anise Love Potion
To Enchant an Apple
The Love Web (Romanian)
The Apple Love Spell (Hungarian)
The True Love Wish
The Magic of Roses
Wedding Rings in Magic
To Birth a Male Child
To Birth a Female Child
The Blessed Cradle (Le Berceau Béni)
To Call Back the Wandering Faithless
To Undo a Love Spell
To Banish the Pain of Unrequited Love
To Ease the Loss of Love
To Dismiss Love
How to Write a Letter to the Dead

The Blessed Cradle is not an ordinary blessing spell. It is designed to make the child rise in station and wealth in life, and to become skilled and knowledgeable in magical matters. It is a common spell amongst Witches in European countries. It is a bit more complicated than the Baby Gifting Rite that appears in hidden form in The Sleeping Beauty.

*** Blessed be to those who serve the Great Mother and the Horned Father.

* Copyright to Coven Rochester

I am working on a spellbook as a gift for someone. Each section cannot be too long, so I am thinking carefully what to include. I've narrowed down the section Finding Things Out to:

Bibliomancy
The Spell to Find Lost Objects
To Unforget a Memory
To Uncover Deception
To Make a Liar Confess
An Omen from the Lady
The Revealing Charm
The Letter Charm
A Chant to the Forebears for Wisdom
The Dreaming True Potion
To Have Someone Contact You
The Bird and Feather Spell
The Old Oak Spell
A Scrying Spell

*** Blessed be to those who serve the Great Mother and the Horned Father.

* Copyright to Coven Rochester

Having been initiated in the Craft for over 34 years now, you can imagine that my spellbooks are enormous. Early on, it became a challenge to keep the information organized. I eventually divided the material into four leather-bound spellbooks, one for each of the Four Elements, figuring that every Witch who came after me would know where to find what. If you are looking for the Dreaming True Potion, you must know that it is in the Book of Water. If you are looking to heal an animal, you know that the spell must be in the Book of Earth. Looking for the way the wise read the Tarot? It's in the Book of Air. Need money? Earth. Break a Bad Habit? Fire. How to predict the weather from the exact times of new moon and full moon? The table is in the Book of Air. The Witches' Rules for Gardening? Earth. Sick of waiting for your future husband to show up? A Witch can summon him from the Book of Water. Banish Mice from the House? Fire.

There are several supplementary books, though. The Hexopedia is a separate work. So is my Greenbook, which contains herbal medicine. It is a topic separate from spells involving, say, certain trees (Earth). I also have a book Natural Magic from A to Z based on spells involving plants.

Sometimes I make spellbooks for others as gifts. In that instance, this is usually how I divide it into sections. I have found it a very workable method of organization.

*** Blessed be to those who serve the Great Mother and the Horned Father.

* Copyright to Coven Rochester

A Page From the Fictional Charmed Book of Shadows

It has always mystified me that people would spend money on reproductions of fake spellbooks from television series. Reproductions of spellbooks are nice, if the pages are blank, but I do not know why anyone would want them filled with fictional, fake spells. Most of the spells from television shows are drivel. Almost never historical. Almost never magical. And, let's face it (see the Charmed spell above), barely grammatical. I have seen reproduction spellbooks from the Charmed television series, the Practical Magic movie, and the Secret Circle television series. Sometimes the reproduction artist will attempt to replace the fake spells with spells they make up themselves. But if the reproduction artist is not an initiated Witch (I have never met nor heard of such a person being both), you are likely to get just one step up above drivel.

Why invest time and/or money in fakery, when you can have the real thing? See below.

A skinny dragon, illustrating a wise saying from Nietzsche, written in a Witch Script and English: THE MAN WHO FIGHTS TOO LONG AGAINST DRAGONS SOON BECOMES A DRAGON HIMSELF.

A spellbook page illustrated by a Mandrake Doll. The bottom of the page contains three Witches' Proverbs written in a Witch Script and English:

a. Curse without cause, be cursed without cause.
b. Do not trust the Sparrow to do the Raven's work.
c. Better a free Witch than a captive King.

An Imp, illustrating an old curse of the nature of Mars, recorded for historical purposes. To give you some idea of the scale of this spellbook, the Imp is about 6 inches long from top to bottom. So, the spellbook is very large.

An Old Traditional Tree Spell

A drawing of a Lamia, illustrating A Charm Against Fear, and a Spell involving Spirits of the Night.

To give an idea of the scale of this spellbook. The top left records, for historical purposes, a traditional curse from the southwest of England, the Curse of the Flies. In the lower right, a skull/plant, probably illustrating a warning against poisons.

Witches have their own traditional spells (ex. The Willow Tree Spell, a love spell; the Three Blows Countercurse, which was widespread throughout Europe, and is easily 500 years old, perhaps older; The Healer's Charm, a general charm to set the body to rights). But, with the advent of the academic and internet ages, we have also had access to spells from the past and other cultures that we have learned to adapt. For instance, The Great Curse, Long Curse counterspell from the Maoris. The Tongue Twister from ancient Rome (to make everyone disbelieve a person speaking against you unjustly). The Book Sentry (to protect a book from theft), from ancient Egypt. All these have enriched us.

*** Blessed be to those who serve the Great Mother and the Horned Father.

* Copyright to Coven Rochester