Changing Paths

I recently gave advice to a Tumblr user who was asking for advice on how to find what path they should follow.  The current religious path was not working for this person, and they knew Paganism was the right direction to go, but was having trouble figuring out which Pagan path worked best for them.  My advice was based off my own experience when discovering Pagansim: research as much as possible about the different paths, run Google searches for Pagan paths to find those they maybe hadn’t heard of before, and as the research progresses, narrow down the options by listening to what feels the most right.

For me, I had been in a similar situation back then.  I knew Paganism was my path, but I wasn’t sure which branch would be best for me.  Would it be Asatru?  Heathenism?  Wicca?  Alexandrian or Gardnerian Wicca?  Eclectic?  Or just general Pagan?  Some of the paths I ruled out pretty quickly after reading up on them, and others I needed to do more in depth research with books and blogs to narrow things down.  Searchers now have a much greater advantage using the Internet than I did in my search.  10 years ago there were so fewer blogs and resources available online than there are now, and fewer books and other resources, especially in my area.

This discussion has gotten me thinking, though.  What if you know you need to change, but you don’t have any idea of which direction to follow?  To use myself as an example, I feel I need a change from my current format, but I don’t know where to change to.  The particular path I’ve followed for two years no longer inspires or excites me, it no longer lights a fire within, and I know I need to leave this path in favor of a new one . . . but what is the new path?  I know for certain it’s still within Paganism, but none of the paths I know of truly call to me.  Once I leave the path I’m on, I feel like I’ll be in limbo, and that’s an uncomfortable thought.  So I’ve been avoiding the decision, but I can avoid it no longer.  I have to change, come what may.

But if the Tumblr user had posed that kind of question instead of the original question, what advice could I have given?  “Follow your intuition” or “follow your heart” sound trite and inadequate.  “Research other paths” doesn’t seem helpful in this situation either.

Nearly everyone is faced with a decision like this at some point or other.  It may be a big decision, it may be a little decision, it may be a monumental decision; but decisions like this are part of life.  In the end, it seems we have to choose the way that gives us the most happiness.  I couldn’t remain on a path that caused me undue pain or hardship, or one which made me unhappy, or which allowed me to coast without being challenged.  So I suppose the advice I would give to myself–and anyone else in this situation–is to find the path that most excites your soul, that makes you feel good about you and your life.  Find a path that makes you happy.  And if one doesn’t present itself, then be patient.  It will find you, or you will find it, eventually.

 

 

Book of Shadows, Part 1: What is a Book of Shadows?

(This is part one of a three-part series)

The topic of a Book of Shadows seems to come up fairly frequently among Pagans, especially Wiccans.  But the majority of people don’t know what a Book of Shadows (or BoS for short) really is or how to use it.  I recently had a friend (general Pagan with Wiccan leanings) ask me what a BoS is, how to use it, and how it’s different from a Book of Mirrors, and I found myself explaining all of these things in general terms–so let’s go more in depth!

What is a Book of Shadows?

A BoS is a book of some type that a person can use to record spells they have used, the outcome of spells, what worked and what did not work, different rituals, etc.  In general, a BoS is used predominantly by Wiccans, as the concept of a Book of Shadows originated with Gardner and Gardnerian Wicca.  However, this does not mean that those outside of Wicca can’t use a BoS.  Nor do you have to be in a coven.  You can be a solitary general Pagan like my friend and still use a BoS.

How Do I Use a Book of Shadows?

It’s really up to you how you wish to use this book.  The most common use and form seems to be like a journal.  You update it whenever you want, or whenever you have something to add, but you don’t need to do it every day.  When you do a spell, write it down in the BoS exactly as you said it.  Leave room at the end of the page or on the following page to write up what happens after the spell is cast.  After about a week, or however long if you specified a time period in the spell, then write if the spell worked, if it worked well or kind of or not at all, whether it’s something you would use again or not, etc.  This can apply to meditations or chants as well as spells and rituals.

Say you just got a new guided meditation cd and you want to record how effectively it works for you so you won’t forget, or you want to record what happened during the meditation.  You can put that in a BoS.  Use the cd, see if anything changes or if it’s effective, and record the outcome in your BoS.  I used a guided meditation that could take the listener to meet spirit guides.  I wrote down what I saw, what I felt, and how effective the meditation and cd were for me and if I would use them again.

This differs from a Book of Mirrors (BoM) in that a BoS is not generally used for reflection.  It is used to record actions taken in terms of spells, rituals, prayers, meditations, chants, etc., or actions you would like to take, such as writing down a meditation for future use to try out later.  But generally, you don’t reflect upon life or your actions; you record whether a spell worked, didn’t work, and leave it at that.  Reflections on how these things then affect your life and what changes are effected go into a BoM.  That being said–like much else in Paganism–these books are highly personal, and you can make them into whatever you want.  My friend, for example, found that she was actually writing a Book of Mirrors after I explained it to her, but her’s is probably going to end up being a combination of a BoM and a BoS.  Nothing wrong with that!

Now, if you’re a part of a coven, they will probably have guidelines and such on how to format and use both of these books, but if you’re in a coven, you probably already know that anyway.

Part Two: Formats for a Book of Shadows
Part Three: Books of Shadows, Then and Now  Coming Soon!