Where do you start with your BOS

[Elia]

How to start your BOS, and what are some of the different sections it could have. I would like to talk about how one can write their own rituals for their personal BOS.

There are many different ways one could organize their sections, or have multiple notebooks with their own section. Remember to, at the very least, date when you wrote down the ritual, and credit the author (ie. which webpage or book), or give yourself the credit if you wrote it. My BOS has a mixture of rituals I’ve found, and ones I’ve written myself. One rule I always adhere to is that I try the ritual out beforehand, maybe a couple of times, before I write it in my permanent BOS. You don’t want to make the mistake of writing a ritual down in pen, then trying it out and finding that it falls flat, and you don’t feel anything when performing it.

It takes a lot of courage to begin to write your own rituals. The most common question is, how do you get started in the first place?? What I’ve found that works best is researching what other people have written for that ritual. Say, for example, you want to write your own circle casting. The first step would be to look all over the Internet for varying styles, and search your books for an author that you like the wording for. Try out a couple of different circle castings, and see which you like best. Do you like to begin in the North, or the East? Do you like the feel of invoking the Watchtowers, Archangels, or Elementals into your circle? Each decision you make regarding your casting makes a difference on how you would write it. Do you like flowery language, or simple yet powerful phrasing? Once you know all the different aspects of the ritual, now you are set to write it! Does anyone have any circle castings, or any other ritual for that matter, that they have written and would like to share?

[Elia]

A Blessing for your Book of Shadows

Goddess, bless this salt with your power
Allow it to work your will
Bring the power of the earth
And cleanse it till all is still

Goddess, bless this water with your power
Allow it to work your will
Bring the power of the moon
And cleanse it till all is still

(Raise the blessed water to the skies)
Goddess, I give you honor

(Sprinkle the blessed water on your book)
Goddess, I call upon you to bless this book of shadows
May it guide me on my path
May it be used for good not ill, and cast away the shadows
And allow me to access the powers of the universe
Blessed Be

[Ouroboros]

This year I want to start a new BOS, I have a new one waiting, all clean and fresh, not a word in it yet. I'm scared i'll wreak it, like write a blessing and do a bg spelling mistake on the first line.
It is like starting a new painting, the blank page is paralizing. I will be brave, it will be OK. It will be awesome.
It has a plain black cover and I stenciled Celtic Knots on the corners with Copper metalic paint. I want to paint an Ouroboros in the center. Maybe that could be my first New Years project. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Elia]

I know what you mean, I have so many new journals and I don't want to wright in any of them and mess them up.

I think painting an Ouroboros on it would be beautiful. Ive always wanted to paint, but like you looking at a big blank canvas would be daunting. I can draw but ive never painted.

[Ouroboros]

It is all just practice, drawing with a brush instead of a pen or pencil. It is very relaxing. Time flies, and before you know it, it's three hours later.
I am thinking that I may have to cut a stencil for the Ouroboros because the Celtic Knots were stenciled on, and the brushstrokes are stippled on not brushed on. There would be a different texture to the brush strokes. I am probably overthinking it.
It would be a good project to do today, I'm making Ham and Pea soup, the bone is boiling on the stove. I have a couple of hours to waste, why not try to paint my symbol.

[Ouroboros]

OK, I took a deep breath and took the plunge. I now have the basic Ouroboros shape painted on my BOS. I used a circle stencil shape to contain the size of the Snake, I had to cut in a little where the tail narrows to go in the mouth. There are a few little wobbles in the line but I will be able to correct the line with black. The Book of Shadows is a Black leatherette lined journell so it takes the acrylic paint well. I will put another coat of Bronze on, then paint some fine black scales and eyes etc.
I'll save that for tomorrow, now it's time to make the soup.

[Elia]

Ham & pea soup, never tried it. probably won't

I absolutely love the Ouroboros and the hand with the symbols OMGz beautiful!!!!

[Ouroboros]

I finished my Book of Shadows, Ouroboros symbol, it did'nt take long at all. I put a light acrylic varnish over the painting, it should protect it a little.
I'm glad you got the photos Elia V. I'm going to do more of those Occult kind of paintings. I think there may be a market for them at my local Witchy shop.
One of my New Years must dos is learning how to post pics. Yes I know it's easy. One of these days.
And Pea and Ham soup is delicious!

[Elia]

Start a photo bucket account.
I'm sure you have pictures saved in your computer, you can click on most any picture then rt click and select save picture as and it goes to your pictures. If you have a camera you put the memory card in and download the pictures. (good so far)

Then go to your photo bucket acc. and click on upload (its a big blue square) and your pictures on your computer will pop up (still good)

Now click the one you want and hit "open" its at the bottom of that small window of your pictures.

it will upload to photo bucket

Then when you want to put one on here, open photo bucket (in new tab) find the picture, click on the picture, it will pop up, on the right side you will have code options, click on the URL for a brief second it will flash "copied" then go to here (which should be in another tab, and (you should already have the post box up) just left click and when you see paste right click. then you can use the preview at the bottom to see if it's there, if so hit submit.

[Ouroboros]

I have actually started writing in my new BOS, I have a lot of photos that I will use to illistrate some of the topics, I have my witchy drivers licence in there. My first page says...
In these pages, you will find.
Things that are conjured from my mind.
Are they true or make believe?
Follow me and you will see.
Then I'm leaving 3 pages for my Index.
Page 1. Preface, a photo of Me and Onyx.
Page 2. The Wheel of the Year. I cheated and photcopied a picture of the Wheel of the Year from the internet. I was going to make the wheel so it would turn but the pages of my book are too thin.
I have started with Yule and the winter solstice. Next will be Imbolc. etc...

There is a lot of writting. First I will do all the Sabbats then next on the list will be the Esbats, Moon Phases etc.

[Elia]

[Ouroboros]

I have written out correspondances for Imbolc and Ostara, next will be Beltane. It is nice to be doing something different. I'm quite enjoying writting my my Book of Ouroboros. It is relaxing.

[Elia]

Takes your mind off every day things, I use to work puzzles, (mosaic) the 1000 piece, until my eyes got to bad to really see the pieces, ive got a stack of them, and people would say that would drive me crazy, and I was like it relaxes me, I'm not thinking of anything but a color and shape.

I have 2 three ring binders (full) and a small leather one (my original) that I hand wright in. And draw pictures. I need to organize all my papers ive got to many.

[Ouroboros]

I have stacks of paper to put in my binders. I was up to date and organised, but then the Forum was going and I copied a lot of Micheal's stuff from "Into the Abyss" I miss all the information that was on that Forum. I am just writting the basics into my BOS. Anything I might attempt to do in my every day practice. I can figure out all I need to know from the Correspondance charts and an Almanac.
I bet the small leather book is the one you would keep over all the others. Something has to be good to get into the nice book.

[Elia]

I started that little leather one when I first started, I wrote everything I thought was important in that BOS. So yea its the "true" one to me.

[Ouroboros]

I just remembered that I have a little red leather notebook that I hav'ent looked in for a long time. I just opened it up to this little spell.
Money, Money come to me
In abundance three times three
May I be enriched in the best of ways
Harming none on it's way
This I acept, so mote it be
Bring to me money, three times three.
I have all sorts of good stuff in here including all my crystal information for makeing my pins that I was making for weight loss, healing etc. I better start reading my own stuff. Sometimes being a hoarder is good when you find something interesting.

[Elia]

That's sounds nice, cool.
Look and ye will find!!

[Ouroboros]

After I finish up here. I'm going to start my notes on Litha.
Here is a tip I found on Pinterest, I'm going to use it in my BOS, the origional idea was for journelling. They suggest useing Washi Tape down the edges of your page. Washi tape is a paper tape that comes in so many different patterns and colors. I have a bunch of it so I'm using it in my Wheel of the Year pages. Trying to color co-ordinate to the seasons. The paper in my BOS is quite thin so it is reinforcing the edges nicely. And it's pretty.

[Ouroboros]

I have finished writing the Wheel of the Year, and the Sabbats, and I have written up the Esbats, I need to draw some pictures of the Moon in her phases. I'm not sure what to do next. Thinking Mmmmm.

[Ouroboros]

I painted seven Black Card stock disks with while acrylic Moon phases. They turned out pretty good. Also one to represent the Dark of the moon. I probably should have done a Blue Moon and a Blood Moon. OK, I'm going to do them now, while I think about it.

[Ouroboros]

Esbats Page is finished. I did my Blood and Blue Moon disks and all have been glued down and are looking nice. I'm trying to decide what to do next. Maybe I'll have a break from my BOS for a couple of days and have a think. I'm dying to do my Spell Pages but I want to do the informational pages first. Maybe tools or altar set up?

[Ouroboros]

Well, it was a quick think. I'm going to do the Celtic Trees of the month.

[Ouroboros]

I did not do the Celtic Trees of the month, for my next page of the BOS.
I have been running into the name The Star Goddess, a few times now, so I looked it up. She is the central deity of Feri, Refered to as 'God Herself".
She is the ecstatic feminine form of "the Absolute". Nuit of Thelema. I remember her from the Thoth Tarot Deck. The card XX The Aeon. Crowley called The Star Goddess, Nut, the "symbol of unlimited possibilities". Nut is associated with Isis.
Another thing I found out was "She is the Ouroboros, a serpent devouring its own tail, the manifest encompassing itself". She is part of my symbol, a primordial Goddess indeed. How could I not love her.

[Ouroboros]

So I went to the local Occult Shop and found embroidered patches of Haida Indian Spirit animals, The are done in the traditions colors of Black, Red and Gold. I picked the Raven, whom I have always had an affinity with. "The Trickster" Shapeshifter and bringer of Magickal power.
I have ironed it on to my Jean Jacket, it looks awesome.
I am researching Raven and will be writting about him in my next section of my Book of Ouroboros.

[Ouroboros]

Raven is an awesome bird, a bird of magick, prophesy, shapeshifter. The sudden "Craaak" sound the ravens makes, is the sound that shifts reality into another dimention. You are never alone in the forest when Raven is around. He will follow you and watch over you.