Book of Shadows - I
A Book of Shadows is merely a collection of spells and rituals. All thought forms of desire can be considered to be commands to the Spirit; what makes spells special is the attention paid to them (the importance placed on them). This is why we must not dissipate our intent in casting thoughtless desires out willy-nilly, such as by casual window-shopping or coveting what we see on the TV or internet, or being jealous of other people. We must focus all our desire on one particular object. It is precisely by inflaming our desire for a myriad of objects which we don’t even want that society saps our will and holds us in slavery. Casting spells won’t work if you scatter your intent in every direction at once.
The difference between spells and rituals is that rituals are done to invoke spirits (i.e. are performed basically to propitiate the spirits – to keep them happy) whereas spells are cast for particular purposes such as wealth, healing, love, etc. Spells can be considered the same thing as prayers, although prayers normally are directed towards a deity, whereas spells may or may not appeal for the intercession of spirits or a deity.
Both spells and prayers, as well as positive thinking, can be subsumed under the rubric “Creative Visualization” (C.V.), which is the name for the basic technique involved. There is nothing “magical” about spells; the words employed don’t matter as much as the intent behind the words. It is much better if you create your own spells, in your own words, rather than borrow spells from some other source (however if you are invoking spirits then you must be scrupulous in following the wording of the invocation precisely, as well as observing the correct day / time / astrological aspect required, if there is one; and copying the sigil correctly. This is because some spirits – though not all – are rather exigent in their requirements and demand full attention to what you are doing).
I, personally, don’t have a book of shadows. There are certain C.V.’s I do every day, sometimes several times a day (particularly the Enlightenment spell given below). Most of the time, however, the C.V.’s I do are impromptu – as when I see a rainbow or falling star and cast my customary Enlightenment spell on it. Ephemeral phenomena such as rainbows, falling stars, dust devils, gusts of wind, etc. are actually the best messengers for taking our spells and prayers out into the universe because they spring to life for a moment and then dissolve back into undifferentiated energy, taking our desire with them. This is also why spells are cast with a burning candle – to send the desire out there. But now and again I’ll cast a spell for money or whatever, and at such times I follow the astrological guidelines explained in the article Astrological Timing of Spells, Prayers, and Rituals .
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