Topics Within this Guide

Tags For The Online Book Of Shadows

A Help In Hand When Working With Each Section

Below are the headings of each of the following sections of this Grimoire with a brief description of the sorts of things that should go into that section. Also there is a layout for you to be able to follow so that the Book of Shadows does not because easily muddled up while you continue to enter more information into it. 

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1. Magical Symbols and Tools

Information on tools and symbols used within the Craft. 

Symbol / Tool Name:
Used For:
Correspondences:
Shape:
History:
Cross-Reference:
Citation:
Alternative:

Tags: candles book of shadows celtic symbols tools

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2. Prayer, Meditation and Visualization

How to use, write your own prayers etc. and prayers that you can use. Techniques and other helpful information on meditation and visualization.

Prayer / Meditation / Visualization
Step-by-step instructions
Definitions
Cross-Reference:
Citation:

Tags: meditation prayer visualization 

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3. Sacred Space: Creating and Maintaining

Creating a Sacred Space is important part of any ritual. So this area of the Online Book of Shadows is for all information and ideas, how to etc.

Type of Sacred Space:
For Use of:
Altar needs:
Elemental Markers:
Quarter Correspondences:
Starting/Ending Invocations:
Circle Designation:
Instructions:
Definitions:
Cross-Reference:
Citation:

Tags: sacred rituals 

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4. Spells and Spell Components 

This is for lists of spells and items that can be used in spells and what they are used for. This section is in two parts: One is the base components in their individual state and two the spells that have been created from them.

Components
Name:
Category:
Uses:
Element:
Corresponds:
Properties:
Cross-Reference:
Citation:

Spells
Spell Name:
Used For:
Lunar phase:
Ingredients:
Instructions:
Cross-Reference:
Citation:

Tags: banishing beauty career gardens health love pets prosperity protection rituals spells

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5. Charms, Amulets, Talismans and Fetishes

Although the four mentioned in the title are very similar they are not the same this is why they are all going into this section but they won’t be grouped individually.

Name of:
Type: (Charm/Amulet/Talisman/Fetish)
Use:
Ingredients:
Instruction:
Cross-Reference:
Citation:

What you need to know about them:
Charms = the word charm comes from Latin carmen, which means a poem or harmonic song. Definition = can be anything - an object, word, symbol - that's believed to have inherent or given magical powers.

Amulets = the word comes from the Latin amuletum meaning "a charm". Main difference between charms and amulets are designed specifically to protect, pre-serve, and remedy.

Talismans = Amulets are considered passive protectors that simply radiate energy around the bearer no matter what. Amulets can be activated by the bearer, but they themselves are not "active" by nature. Talismans, by comparison, were once active participants in magic. For example, the lamp from Aladdin's Lamp. The spirit is often picky about its owner and the talisman may not function if the bearer gets into a tiff with the spirit or offends it somehow.

Fetishes = the word "fetish" appears in a variety of languages. In Portuguese, it is feitico meaning to contrive a charm. Definition = type of portable magic. e.g. statue of Virgin Mary adorned with rosaries in a home of a Catholic could be considered in this category.

Tags: amulets charms fetishes finnish talismans celtic norse scandinavian viking

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6. The Wheel of the Year

Your Pagan ancestors worked within a Wheel of the Year that reflected the cyclical nature of the seasons. This wheel had eight spokes, four of which marked annual events connected to the movement of the Earth and Sun: the two solstices (the longest and shortest days) and the two equinoxes (when day and night are of equal length). The others marked times of agricultural or environmental significance. In Celtic tradition, these eight festivals celebrate the wheel's turning and are known as Sabbats. 

As well as the Sabbats we celebrate the Esbats which are full moons. A lunar month is around 28 days long so usually there is only one Esbat every calendar month but occasionally there is an appearance of a Blue moon which is the 13th moon in the year which is the second full moon within a calendar month.

As the title suggests this section is all about the different times; days, weeks, months, years, lunar cycles, seasons, Sabbats and Rites. Just to name a few. This section and section 21 (Dates to remember) will get cross-referenced a lot. 

Title:
Information:
Cross-Reference:
Citation:

Tags: april august autumn equinox beltane celtic december  dates days esbats february friday imbolc january july june lammas march may monday months november october sabbats samhain saturday september spring equinox summer solstice sunday thursday tuesday wednesday winter solstice timing moon

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7. Divination Tools and Methods 

There are many ways to help you guide your future path or even predict it. In many different cultures they have used numerous tools to do so. The tags used here give reference on how to use a specific tool or when to use it in a spell e.g. using the strength card in a tarot pack to represent Fire because it's element of Leo.

:
Cross-Reference:
Citation:

Tags: astrology crystal ball dark mirror dice divination dowsing rods dreams futurescope i ching playing cards numerology palmistry psychometry runes tarot tasseography witches rune  

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8. Elements, Correspondences and Applications

The elements are all around us and include ourselves. We use the elements in the daily practice of Witchcraft. 

Tags: air earth elements fire spirit water

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9. Food and Beverage Correspondences and Applications

As Witchcraft is based on nature and all living things need to feed, this section helps us prepare for celebrations and rituals that involve food or drink. Hopefully what we'll end up with is our very own Pagan cookbook and correspondences. 

Tags: drink food fruits health herbs recipes vegetables

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10. Colour, Sound, Texture, Aromatic and Number Correspondences

All of these correspondences have a strong part to play in the Craft.

Tags: aroma aromatherapy colour flowers number sound texture 

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11. Crystals, Metals, Minerals and Fossil Correspondences

As with section 10, these are also very important in Witchcraft for many purposes.

Tags: crystals fossils metals minerals 

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12. Plants and Animals Correspondences and Applications

What would nature be without flora and fauna. 

Tags: animals flowers gardens herbs nature pets plants tree 

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13. God and Goddess Correspondences

This section covers many deities from different cultures.

Tags: celtic egyptian god goddess greek finnish norse scandinavian viking

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14. Notable and Quotable

This part of the Book of Shadows should house any inspiring bits of text, speeches, music, poetry, or whatever, that strike a deep emotional chord within you. Make sure you note the source of an item so you can return to it at a later date, and copy it carefully so as to maintain the original form.

Tags: notable and quotable poetry rhymes 

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15. Lecture, Lesson Notes and Information

All other information that you would put in your own Book of Shadows such as guide sheets, information or history goes in this section.

Tags: book of shadows guide sheets handfasting history angels articles feng shui lists otherworldly beings superstitions text and writings recommended reading

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16. Networking

These are lists of contacts that you will use like people/friends, shops online/offline etc. It is a bit like an address book but it also has extra information for your witchy needs. 

Tags: network 

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17. Dream Diary

Tags: dream diary dreams

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18. Insights and Introspection 

Of all the sections in this Book of Shadows, this one will be most "diary like" in look and feel. It's also the section that often reveals your spiritual progress most intimately. Things that go here are Daily Reflections, Meditation and Visualization Notes, Divination Notes, Random Observations, Birthday Writings, Holiday Writings, Nature Notes and anything else of that nature. You can always post a link to your personal LJ's post that contains this information.

Tags: insights and introspection

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19. Magical Commitments and Goals

Any time you make a promise to yourself or the universe, detail it in here. Then, keep track of your progress in achieving your goal. As you do, pay particular attention to and note any or all of the following:

The Exact Commitment or Goal

What did you decide to try to do, and when? Was the timing significant, and if so why? What motivated this decision? What do you hope to accomplish at the very least? If this exercise were to manifest in an ideal form, what would be the outcome? The usefulness of these notes will become clear later as your efforts bring you closer to completion.

Feeling Held Back or Stumbling Blocks

You'll want to design magical procedures to release those constraints and tear down the walls. Hint: If this procedure proves effective and helpful, copy it into the appropriate section of your Book of Shadows. Follow up this magic with concrete efforts that will support the energy and give the universe a chance to step in with aid.

Important: Never work any magic that you're not willing to support through honest, mundane efforts. The universe is willing to meet us halfway, but we have to go the other half in order for the journey to have the greatest meaning and results.

Helpful and Motivating Forces

Return to these again and again until you attain your goal or fulfill your commitment. If the help or motivation comes from a person, ask if it's ok to come to them (don't simply assume help will be given). Remember this is your spiritual quest, not theirs, and you must be the guru for your own life. Don't let outside assistance become a crutch or the entire exercise will suffer.

Personal Struggles

The inner conflicts that often occur when you're trying to reach a spiritual plateau are tremendous teachers. They'll reveal reveal both your weaknesses, which you can always work on, and your strengths, which you'll want to depend on!

External and Internal

While you're trying to reach a particular goal or fulfill a commitment, you can almost guarantee the process will bring about changes in your life, either within or without (and often both). These transformations are a very important reflection of your spiritual learning process.

Tags: magical commitments and goals

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20. Personal Magic: Success and Failure 

Here you will be making notes of any personally created spell, ritual, meditation, or other construct, and its results. As you make these notes, be sure to include any or all of the following information:

If the Procedure Was Based on Another Source

If it was, what was the source and how did you change the procedure? Also why did you make the changes? Sometimes this information is even more important than the details since it can reveal if there are certain things about a magical procedure that you are (or are not) comfortable with.

The Exact Details of the Procedure

These include the components you used, the atmosphere you created, the wording or movements, etc. If the procedure is very effective, you'll want to use it again, so these notes will help you recreate the whole process perfectly. If the procedure doesn't seem to work, the details here will help you determine what needs to be changed.

When You Tried the Procedure

In the Wheel of Life section of your Book of Shadows, we detailed timing and its usefulness in magic. If the timing you used for this process proved helpful, you'll want to note it for future reference.

The Conditions Under Which the Procedure Took Place

Was it raining? Was there allot of noise outside your home? Were you tired, energetic, happy, sad, expectant, or curious? All these things can (and often do) affect your magic. So, if the conditions weren't perfect, and the process doesn't work quite right, you can always try again when circumstances are more favorable.
It's not wise to judge the effectiveness of a self-created magical procedure based on one attempt. I usually suggest three tries, each of which is done under slightly different conditions. If after the third try it's still not working, then you probably need to rethink the details.

Account Anything Unusual That Happened During the Procedure

In other words if you suddenly changed a component or action based on a direction from Spirit, note it! Or, if something makes you uncomfortable, note that too. Even though you know yourself pretty well, we can never be totally sure of how any magical process will feel and flow until it's actually tried (that's because of the energies created). In either case, heeding a direction from Spirit will leave you with a more effective, meaningful procedure to refer to in future. Notes of any feelings of unease help you eliminate factors, for whatever reason, don't help your magic.

The Results

You will likely need to leave a space for this in your diary, since most magic doesn't manifest immediately. Give the spell, ritual, or whatever plenty of time to show signs of working, then return to this spot and make your assessment.

Tags: personal magic success failure

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21. Dates to Remember and Planning Ahead

These are dates such as Full Moons (Esbats), New Moons, Waning Moons, Waxing Moons, Sabbats, Birthdays, Anniversaries, etc

Tags: april august autumn equinox beltane celtic december  dates days esbats february friday handfasting imbolc january july june lammas march may monday months november october rites of passage sabbats samhain saturday september spring equinox summer solstice sunday thursday tuesday wednesday winter solstice timing moon

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Tags Solely For The obos Community

These tags are mainly used by the maintainers and moderators of the community to help, inform and set tasks for the members. 

questions ~ This tag can be used by any member to ask the group of a question.
images ~ When a post contains an image, this tag should be added. If the image is more than 400 pixels wide please make sure you use Livejournal cut so users with a low desktop resolution can display the whole obos rather than having to scroll from side to side.
notices ~ This could be anything that all members should take note of such as an upcoming event or task. These posts are only made by maintainers.
obos ~ These posts are information only about the Online Open Book of Shadows which may include updates to the website, polls that you need to vote on, messages welcoming new members and promotion of existing members. These posts are only made by maintainers.
tasks ~ These are tasks posted by maintainers unless otherwise stated. Task 1 has to be completed within 11 days of joining the obos. All other tasks are posted on the first (or nearest to) of each calendar month and run for that calendar month. Tasks 2 onwards are not compulsory although it would benefit the community and yourself if you try. If you join the community , for example, while Task 10 is running, feel free to go back and undertake any task previously run. For every task that you complete you must leave a comment in the correct task post e.g. if you completed Task 2 you would leave a comment stating that in the post that set the task.

Tags: images notices obos questions tasks 

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Tags Solely For The online_bos Community

All  tags in the online_bos are the same as the obos apart from two:-

duir ~ This is a public post which is used as a guest book by non members who wish to join. Current members can ask the person questions and then decide whether to allow an invite to be sent to them. (See FAQ page for more information)
online_bos ~ This tag replaces the obos tag in the obos community.

Tags: duir online_bos

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Outline Of Tag Use 

Sections 1 to 21 are tags that can be cross referenced, depending on the data within a post, to any other section. For example; When submitting a post containing a spell it may have information referencing Food and Beverages, Gods and Goddesses and Magical Tools and Symbols. It also may have a recommended time of year or weekday on which to perform it i.e. a spell for love that needs to be performed on a Friday calling upon the Goddess Aphrodite therefore the tags would be love, goddess, friday   You would also include your Livejournal user name.

If you still need help with choosing the correct tags make a post in the obos with the tag questions, followed by your user name.

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