Book of Witchery (2 page)

Introduction

A Book of Shadows

W
hy a Book of Shadows, you may wonder? Over the years, I have had more requests for this type of book than anything else. When I began teaching public classes on witchery, practical magick, and the Craft, I based every single class I taught from the correspondences in the original version of this book,
7 Days of Magic
. But I have always wanted to take a shot at expanding and intensifying that original little manuscript. However small the size of that manuscript may have been, the original book was packed full of daily correspondences, spells, and lessons on how to incorporate witchery into each and every day of the week. In essence, it
was
a Book of Shadows—it was
my
Book of Shadows, containing a collection of spells, charms, and correspondences, all of it witchery that worked well and that I had created, written down, and successfully practiced and then went on to teach to the public.

So here we are. You hold in your hands not an old book with a new cover. No, indeed. This book is bigger, better, and more in-depth; the information has more than doubled in size. The fundamentals that you have come to expect from me are still here, but now there is even more magick to try your hand at. For example, you will find enchanting and new daily meditations, potion and philter recipes, Witch crafts, full moon magick, and rituals that are more intense and much more involved, in addition to the classic crystal, color, herb, tarot card, and deity magick.

This Book of Shadows is meant to kick-start your own brand of creativity, and it will give you many fresh ideas on how to build your own personal brand of witchery and magick. I promise that this book will keep you happily conjuring seven days a week—because, as I always say, magick is where you find it, and creativity is the key.

Witchery for the Week

Magick is all around us at all times. Enchantment can be found in each moment of every day of our lives. In this frantic and crazy world that we live in, it is more important now than ever to stop and take a few moments for yourself and your witchery. Each day, set aside some private time just for you. Then use this personal time to connect to the wonder, divinity, and magickal energies of that specific day. If you've got only ten minutes to spare for magick, then incorporate your intuition and your knowledge of the Craft to use every bit of that time wisely.

Magick doesn't have to be complicated. You are not any less of a Witch if you choose to keep things straightforward and basic. Who says you have to spend an hour setting up and then performing your spells? Certainly not me. If you keep things uncomplicated and practical, you'll enjoy it more—and you'll be working magick more often. Witchery isn't limited only to the sabbats and to the occasional full moon; magick happens twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Every day is a bewitching day, Sunday through Saturday. Each day holds its own planetary correspondences, deity associations, magickal energies, and applications. A clue to how these magickal traditions started is to consider how the days of the week got their names in the first place. To the ancients, there were seven known planets, or celestial bodies, in the heavens. These were the sun, moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn. Back in the day, folks believed that the seven planets all revolved around the earth—that whole “the earth is the center of the universe” thing. They also believed that the movements of the planets signified the will of the gods and their direct power over human affairs.

Sunday is obviously named after our closest star, the sun. Monday was named after the moon. All of the other names for the days of the week are actually inspired by a combination of the old Roman and Norse deities and mythologies. Each day of the week has its own energies and specialties, and the day itself may affect people in different ways. For example, do Mondays make you cringe? Why? They are not always the start of the work week. For those of us who work weekends, Monday is just another day. It is, however, the moon's special day of the week. What kind of magickal work could you possibly perform on a Monday?

Well, on that sacred day of the moon, you could work for increased psychic abilities or you could connect with a lunar god or goddess. If a full moon happened to fall on a Monday, this could infuse extra magickal power into any lunar spell. Sounds like a double whammy to me. How could you use this information in your own brand of witchery and magick?

Techniques for Newer Witches

Over the years, I have met many newer Witches who are often confused and overwhelmed by daily magickal correspondences. They rub their foreheads and give me a pained expression as they ask, “Tuesdays are for what?” Goddess knows I've fielded this question many times with my students, magickal friends, and my covenmates. Some magickal practitioners break a sweat after taking one look at those massive correspondence charts and planetary hours. I can totally sympathize.

While serious astrological charts and the accompanying information make my eyes cross (I think it reminds me too much of math), you can and should still learn more about the individual magickal associations of all the days of the week. Daily planetary information and magickal associations will help you figure out the hows, whys, and whens of magick working the way that it does. Once you learn how to apply the daily correspondences, you turn up the power and the volume of your Craft. In essence, this gives you more unique magickal tools in your repertoire, and this will then allow you to creatively experience more options.

Inspiration for Experienced Witches

For those Witches who wonder what the point is of relearning what they perceive to be very basic material, try looking at daily correspondences in a whole new way. It really doesn't matter how old you are. Whether you are in your late teens or in your seventies, many experienced Witches have trouble working successfully with the daily magickal correspondences, so they face boredom and burnout. Whatever scenario you are dealing with, either is frustrating.

The topics covered in this Book of Shadows—the daily correspondences, meditations, theme spells, tarot card associations, Witch craft projects, potion recipes, and other natural accessories—are like building blocks. You can successfully add this magickal information to the Witchcraft that you already practice. Before you know it, you've increased your knowledge of the Craft, expanded your understanding of magickal correspondences, tried your hand at creating some of your own spells, and stepped up in the ranks.

Expanding Your Magickal Toolbox

Mastering the daily magickal correspondences actually expands the size of your magickal toolbox. You know that fun little “mental toolbox” that you cart around inside your head? Think of all the ways you will be able to personalize and advance your witchery! Instead of wasting time wondering which item, color, herb, or other magickal prop best harmonizes with what theme, you'll already know, leaving you free to focus on the task at hand. When you free up your mind and focus on your magick instead of worrying if you have all the correct items, you allow so much more room for the spells and witchery to manifest—and without a bunch of expectations or worries slapped all over them. Remember that the most advanced magick springs from the hidden lessons that you began with. There are layers in magick and worlds within worlds. Are you willing to take the time to carefully investigate them?

Whenever I teach public classes, I always ask how many students know their daily correspondences by heart. The response ranges from horrified to confused. At a recent class I taught while on tour, there were over thirty-five people in attendance, and not a single one of them knew their basic daily magickal correspondences from memory. These students also included a few third-degree practitioners from another established tradition. I will admit that it took me a moment to recover from my surprise. How can someone say they are a third-degree high priestess and not know their daily correspondences? And most importantly, why were they not taught this essential and foundational information? I say “foundational” because you will use this daily magickal information as a foundation on which to build your own witchery and magick every single day.

My theory for this common lack of knowledge is that the daily correspondences are a magickal topic that is simply not focused on. However, it certainly should be. The surprising truth is that many practitioners do not know their daily correspondences by heart—such as what specific planet or which crystals, colors, herbs, plants, or flowers correspond with a particular day, or even which deity lent its name to any particular day of the week. And that always shocks the hell out of me.

I once had a student get so hostile about that topic that she threw a tantrum in class. Why, she had studied for years, she sputtered at me. Did I understand just how many books she owned on the Craft? However, during all of her “how dare yous,” she missed the whole point.

What finally stopped her tangent was when I cheerfully asked her how often she actually cast spells. She had no answer for that one. She really turned red when I gently asked her if, when the mood struck her and she began to create her own personal magick, did she waste a lot of time looking everything up? Or instead, by her knowing the basic correspondences, was she able to use her knowledge of what items work harmoniously together, thereby leaving her free to apply her intuition to create her own personalized spells?

The tantrum-throwing student's mouth hit the floor. And I saw several people in class have an
aha!
moment when the information hit home. And this, my friends, is the entire point: if you want to have the freedom to create your own personal brand of witchery, then you need to have a solid foundation on which to build. Learning and studying the daily correspondences and the magickal theme of the day allows you to open up amazing possibilities for awesome witchery for each and every day. It is, quite simply, all up to you. How much do you want to learn, and how far do you wish to advance your own witchery?

How to Use This Book of Shadows