Journal Magick: Chapter Two
Book of Shadows, or the Magickal Commonplace Book, Planning Pages, and Plain old journaling
Chapter Two
Book of Shadows, or the Magickal Commonplace Book
If you have been in the magickal community or are someone who just dabbles, you may be familiar with the term “book of shadows.” The practice itself is not dissimilar to a commonplace book. This is the first approach I will share.
The book of shadows is a log book of different practices, techniques, synchronicities, and outcomes as they come through. It’s also a place to collect notes and sources for further exploration or reference.
This is the first way I propose we work with our journal, as it will inform the rest of the work moving forward.
When we keep track of the data of our workings, it allows us to engage in pattern recognition of periods of time. It also extends the capacity of our brains. If we record such information down, we do not have to put ourselves through the mental strain of having to remember various details.
If you are unsure if you should include something, jot it down regardless. You can always cross it out later.
Practice: Start your log
For now, simply begin by jotting down the spiritual activities you already do. If you have a small meditation practice, each day you meditate, log it in your journal. Try to do this consistently.
If you do a lot of different things, write them in list form. Remember we don’t have to be perfect. The important part is building the habit of showing up. It doesn’t have to look a certain way, it just has to exist.
Another great use for this section is to record the sigil glyphs you create. The purpose here would be to keep an ongoing list of sigils to return to and meditate on. As time continues, the intention behind specific sigils will leave your mind. This is perfect and adds the layer of surrender that aids in this magick’s effectiveness.
Practice: Sigils
When it comes to sigils, there is no shortage of information online and in books on different ways to create a sigil. I plan to share my technique as a baseline. If you already have a preferred method, or have found a technique you’d rather try instead, please do so. Part of the magick is being excited about what it is we intend to do.
To create a sigil, you first need to create a statement of intent. This should be made in the first person, and in the present tense as though the intention has already come to pass. My statement of intent will be:
I am confident in public spaces.
The next step is to cross out the vowels and repeating letters. You will then have a collection of letters remaining. Below are the letters remaining from my statement of intent:
M C N F D T P B L S
Then, we use the letters that remain to combine them into a shape. This will take some time to tinker with the different layouts. My favorite way is breaking each letter down into lines and curves. I use this to build geometric-type glyphs which appear magickal.
Draw the new glyph on your sigils list page.
On the page you created the sigil, where your statement of intent was made, scribble over it with various art materials. You could also collage over it. Then rip it up and collage that into your journal.
Take some time to meditate on the image you created. Return to do this several times. Eventually, you will have a whole page of sigils to meditate on, and you won’t know the meaning of any of them. This is a part of the process.
Planning Pages
Planning is another aspect of journaling which we can fold into our magickal work. We can use our journals to track significant dates that align with what we might be working on.
There is the Wheel of the Year to consider, which are different witchy holidays which coincide with the agricultural calendar. There are mainstream holidays as well as birthdays that could also be tracked. You could also think of astrological transits, lunar phases, and planetary days or even hours. Other considerations are feast days, sober birthdays, the first and last day of the month, and whatever else feels significant to you.
Keep an open mind, try to find something time related you’d like to tap into, and try not to overdo it.
It is not necessary to line a project up with a significant date. It is just another method used to add an energetic layer of intention. If this feels out of reach for you, do not allow that stress to land on your shoulders.
That said, there is also the practical aspect of adding planning to one’s journal. Keeping track of what we need to get done day in and day out is helpful when we don’t try to keep track of it all in our head. It allows us mental clarity and cognitive space so we don’t have to keep our minds in a frantic overload.
Planning has been incredibly helpful for me. As a person with ADHD, keeping track of the everyday events along with magickal timelines I may want to keep sometimes feels next to impossible. My planning life works in phases. Sometimes, when life isn’t as busy, it’s not included. When the school year starts for my kids, however, that is a time where things must be written down.
I usually track plans in my journal and reminders, but also keep a wall calendar and pocket planner. Again, this is what I have found works for me. Having your calendar in a place you will see it everyday is essential.
A monthly layout may be the best to start off with. You can log magickal activities done on each day in one color pen, and then synchronicities and results in a separate color. You could also keep notes here about your dreams. Having all of these written in one place (especially color coded) could help you easily spot patterns that arise.
Practice: Create Your Monthly Calendar
How you wish to go about this is up to you. There are several ways to print calendar pages online that could be pasted into your journal. This is also something that could be drawn in.
Drawing in your own calendar with significant colors for that season (or astrological transits), and decorating it with stickers, illustrations, ephemera, or even corresponding sigils could add extra layers of intention. I also believe that making something ourselves gives extra spice to our magick. I will reiterate here that no one will be grading your journal pages, so please feel free to do what feels right and release any judgement that comes up.
Record important astrological dates, the full and new moon, any Wheel of the Year holiday, any significant personal days, and make notes on any project or ritual you’d like to plan. Make a little reminder column for planetary days and hours so you can tap into that current if it feels right. Write down your paydays in green. Keep track of outgoing expenses.
Make a blessing sigil to draw in the four corners of your calendar pages to bring in positive energy and release negative or stagnant energy, and keep it aligned with the energy of the season (perhaps a restful, cozy winter month is just as abundant as a busy, fun-filled summer month).
For a month, track your magickal activities (throw in daily activities as well, having the magickal and mundane in one place can be helpful!). Use different color pens or highlighters to track specific results or synchronicities. Try to check in with it daily. Consider it your touchstone, a space you can enter and hold the interwoven aspects of your life.
After the month is over, write and reflect on the practice as a whole. Think about what worked and what didn’t. Plan ways you’d like to customize or tweak it further. Proceed if the practice is resonant for you.
Plain old journaling
It may seem like a silly part to point out, but journals are perfect spaces for just that…journaling! Ultimately, the pages can be a space where you spill out whatever is running through your head. It’s a great method of record keeping, while also being a wonderful contact point to dig deeper into ourselves.
This would be a great way to work with any journaling prompts we may want to try. We can also write reflections after certain workings or meditations. You can tap into the somatic experience of those that came up, as record that as well.
Any memories or emotions that are bubbling under the surface, whether from a magickal working or just a weird day, can be explored further in the pages of your journal. You can write this in the form of letters to your Higher Self, an ancestor, or Higher Power if you feel as though answers lie outside of yourself.
Whether we walk away with answers or not, the cathartic act of writing down everything we are thinking and feeling is powerful. It’s a great form of energy clearing, and letting things go.
Practice: Free write to let it go
On Saturday night, or at the end of the month, set a timer for fifteen minutes. Sit with some loose leaf papers. Plant your feet on the ground. Make sure you’re comfortable.
Write non-stop for the entire fifteen minutes. Write about all of your joys, worries, fears, anger, sadness. Let it all go on the page. Do not worry about making it legible. In fact, if you find it hard to write quickly, just scribble as close to the words as you can.
The purpose is to get it onto the page. When you feel stuck, begin a sentence by writing “I release…” and keep writing. Return to that beginning every time you feel like you might be stuck. When you’re done, use crayons, markers, paint, or paper to cover up what you’ve written.
Then, rip up the pages. Glue them into a page of your journal. It doesn’t have to be aesthetic, it doesn’t have to be perfect. We are simply releasing the energy and letting the ripped paper to help us transmute it into a fertile space for something new.
A popular journaling practice comes from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Cameron emphasizes the power of writing three long-form, stream-of-conscious pages first thing in the morning, every morning. This practice has been fruitful for me in the past. I also don’t believe the “first thing in the morning” aspect is practical for people with demanding jobs, or stay-at-home parents. The “three long-form pages” aspect is difficult if you struggle with chronic pain. Allow this practice to meet you where you are, and don’t allow the constrictions of it to dictate whether you participate in it or not.
Practice: Observation
A great method of getting used to writing in our journals, especially in public (this adds to the challenge!), is by simply recording what we observe in our natural environment.
Imagine you are a scientist, or an alien, sent to study the environment and creatures within it. What do you notice first? What questions come up from that noticing? Do some occurrences feel silly compared to others? What sensorial information is available to you?
Record a conversation you hear. Describe something incredibly mundane from your everyday life in ornate detail. Write only what you see.
This is a great practice to tap into the present moment. It can feel very grounding, and produces a swelling sense of gratitude. If writing this out feels like it could be a strain, try simple list-making to get started. You’d be surprised at what you normally don’t pay attention to, and what you start to pick up over time.
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