Grimoire Challenge, February – Week 1

Tuesday
Free Day: Take today off – or use today to gather information on something from your research list that you made back in January.

Just this week I started bookbinding on a whim. It was actually easy, since I had the materials on hand: embroidery floss, extra board for covers, paper. I’m a witch, I horde this kind of stuff! So I found a tutorial on YouTube, watched it a couple of times, and then began. Bookbinding, I discovered, is soothing, almost meditative, which is to be expected of a repetitive activity – when you do it, you can let your mind go blank, or you could think deeply on the myriad magickal things you could incorporate into a book of your own making.

Guess which I chose?

There is just so much that you can do with a book that you chose to make, and it baffles me that so few people think about it! Consider: the humble grimoire, or book of shadows, or whatever you chose to call the book in which you keep information. Most people use notebooks and binders, some have cute little journals, and a few keep those giant, leather bound tomes that most witches seem to fantasize about but few can afford because they are, understandably, incredibly expensive.

I wonder why many of us buy our books when it’s generally less expensive and far more meaningful to make our own.

Selecting paper, or making it yourself, using different ingredients depending on what you want to write on it.

Designing the cover

Putting your mark on it.

Blessing and consecrating is a much more powerful thing if you do it to something you make.

Wednesday

Correspondence Activity: Research and list your local flora.

Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata)

Rosary Pea (Abrus precatorius)

Confederate Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides)

Orange (All kinds)

Kumquat (Citrus japonica)

Thursday
Spell Activity: Choose an herb that you have in your pantry. Write a blessing spell that features that herb.

Citrus Floor Wash for House Blessing

Several drops each oils of Orange, Lemon, and Lime

1 tbsp Sea Salt

Add everything to hot water , stir until salt dissolves, then use to mop or scrub the floors.

I’ve always associated citrus with cleansing and a sort of holiness (also with laying flooring, but that’s just me), so it seems appropriate to use them in something meant to assist in blessing a home. I say assist because I’ve always believed that you can’t bless something properly unless it’s been cleaned first.