Pagan Blog Project 2013 - B is for Books

Merry Meet!

I want to write about books, and how important they are to me both as a witch and as an every day person.

Books have always been a significant part of my life. Nothing was better to me than curling up under the covers in the middle of the night when everyone went to bed and left me well alone. Reading was my escape into an alternative world, when I was a kid, and socially awkward with no friends, my books were what I turned to in order to help me alienate the loneliness that I felt. I was transported into all sorts of places, Ancient Rome one moment, Narnia the next. I even went around the world in eighty days, and travelled into the future, as well as to Miss Hubble’s School of Witchcraft and Hogwarts. I made all sorts of friends within the pages of those childhood stories, and they stayed with me for life. It was because of the fact that I was reading, that I decided to be a writer.

I lived in the library, which was a place of peace and sanctuary for me, the lonely, autistic foster child. That was when I discovered that tween book about Wicca in the nonfiction section of the library, and I was introduced to this whole alternative world, a world of magic, of mystery, of power. I, the girl who (at the time) no one really wanted, could be a powerful person. 

So, now, books will have a huge influence on my life. I use books to study, I use books to reference spells and other useful things to do with witchcraft. I still read for pleasure, though, and that’s highly important, to me as a person. 

I still refer to books, including the all important Book of Shadows, when doing magical work, including readings, as I am very unsure about meanings, and these things are difficult to learn by yourself without a teacher. A book is like a teacher, and a guide, as well as your best friend when working, you hear a soothing voice in your head as you read, that reassures you that you are going in the right direction. You feel secure, like it’s taking you by the hand and guiding you through each thing you are doing, step by step. 

The Book of Shadows is therefore the most significant book in a witch’s library. Yes, having witchy books with spells and information is handy, as I said, the authors are there to guide you. But the fact that you write this book yourself, you are the one who has sought out the information within the pages, be it because you’ve taken them from the internet or your favourite books from your witchy collection, or even if you’ve made it up on the spot. It’s a reference book, but one that has your intentions in there, it has your soul within the pages. Not all books can do that, only ones you’ve written yourself. And that’s something truly significant.

Heidi

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