Some New Pages for the Book of Shadows

These are some pages of original materials that I wrote for the NROOGD Book of Shadows back in the early 1970s. Seems like it might be neighborly to share them.

 A Daily Litany for the Lady. 

This was written at the request of Mathonwy and Idris in May 1971, to give a couple a way to use the Craft daily, aside from working a shortened version of our basic ritual. [Notice that this litany uses the original NROOGD correspondences.]

1.  To be said at sunrise, or on rising in the morning.  Hold­ing a cup of water, face east.  Say, “Lady of the Lightning sky, Lady of the Newborn Sun, flood your light into our lives, and let this day be well-begun.”  Sip water, libate a little, and each pour some over the other’s hands to wash with.

2.  To be said at noon, or before eating the midday meal.  Hold­ing a piece of bread or cake, or a piece of fruit, or some other pro­duce of the earth, face south.  Say, “Lady of the Fertile Lands, Lady of the Five-Fold Earth, fill us with your living gifts, and let this day be filled with mirth!”  Then share the bread (or whatever) with each other, taking care to scatter some on the ground, saying “For Her little ones.”

3.  To be said at sunset, before lighting a fire in the evening, or before eating the evening meal. Holding a lit candle or other fire, face west.  Say, “Lady of the Flowering Islands, Lady of the Fiery Sea, dance upon the knowing waters, fill us with your mys­tery.”  Use the candle, or the fire lit from it, as a focus for a short meditation; then work the charging of wine and cakes to begin the evening meal.

4.  To be said at midnight, or before going to bed.  Face north, in aleph position — right arm skyward, left arm earthward, trunk bent to left.  Say, “Lady of the Shining Castle, lady of the Silver Wheel, guard our sleep and send us dreams, turn  our lives and make us real.”  Then bring your hand together with a slap.

5.  To be said at the center of the day — you will know the moment when it comes.  Holding yourself still, face inward.  Say, “Fivefold Lady who whirls without motion, burns untouched in flower flames, ebb and flood of the inward ocean, remind us you are what each word names.”  Then pay attention: expect anything to come; expect only what comes.

 Augury by Salt and Water.

This method, only partly described in the Aradia, I have filled in from the common Roman (i.e., Etruscan) workings described by Fowler’s Festivals of the Roman Republic..

1. Invoke the Goddess by a formula appropriate for the time of day while standing naked in a stream of flowing water, holding salt in your right hand.

2. Ask your question(s), state the sign(s) that will be the answer(s), and specify a time-limit for the answering; then cast the salt upstream as far as you can, face the direction for that time of day (more or less that of the sun) and wait.

3. If you work this at night, invoke the Lady and face north; or use an invocation appropriate for the phase the moon is in and face the moon.

4. You may use this method only once a day; so choose your question(s) carefully. You may ask up to three questions, and choose three signs as answers; if you ask only one question, you may still choose three signs as answers, thus making an answer more likely.  The signs must be fairly specific: something possible, but not certain, to be seen, heard, or otherwise sensed; e.g., the chirping of a locust, a hawk flying from left to right; a wind gust from the south.

5. If a sign occurs exactly as specified and within the time-limit, the answer is “Yes.”  If the exact opposite of a sign occurs—wind gust from the north; hawk flies from right to left—the answer is “No.”  If there is no answer, or an ambiguous answer—a bird chirps; a crow flies, not a hawk; wind gust from the west—then the question was ambiguous, misdirected, or wrong.

 Exorcism

All present MUST stay within the circle until the working is fin­ished; else risk taking home whatever has been stirred up.

1. If this is being worked within a regular meeting, skip to step 3.

2. Cast the circle by your normal procedures; or, if consecrated tools are not available, use the following emergency procedure:

Gather a cup of water, a bowl of salt (earth), a balloon tied to a stick (air), and a lit candle and a knife (fire).  Carry each com­pletely around, sunwise from east, saying “Lady, guard us from all harm by (element).” Place a candle at each of the cardinal direc­tions, saying, “Lady, guard us from all harm from the (direction).”  Finally, place a fifth lit candle in the center, saying, “Lady, guard us from all harm in the things of the spirit.”

3. Open a gate at the east, go out with an elemental tool, close gate behind you.  Beginning at the nearest wall, walk withershins through the house wherever the walls lead (do not ignore closets; add loops as needed to cover any central “islands”), applying the tool to the walls and saying, “Whatever spirits may be here, I conjure you by (element), pass on, be gone, in the Lady’s name,”  One circuit is needed for each element.

4. When back at the gate, open it, step through quickly, close it again, saying, “By this casting out, you are free to go on, to rebirth or whatever the Gods may plan for you. You may not stay here any longer by attaching yourself to anything or anyone inside or outside this circle.”  If there is a fire (in cauldron or fireplace), cast in leaves and incense, saying, “Go where the smoke goes.”  Send them forth by various of the Lady’s names.  Then you can thank her and either proceed with the meeting or break the circle.

6.  If five people are available, four can carry out the cir­cuits in step 3 simultaneously, the fifth can work the gate; when the four come back (step 4), the fifth strikes each with the scourge, saying, “You cannot get a harboring here,” to discourage any stray spirits from trying to sneak in.

 Casting a Pentacle Talisman for General Protection.

            1. If possible, work this within a cast circle.

2. Special supplies needed: paper, pen, compass, protractor, needle, thread, a six- to nine-inch square of cloth, a sturdy cord or chain about 2 feet long.

3. On a sheet of paper, construct a pentacle in a circle, as large and regular as possible; this divides the circle into eleven areas.  In the first one, draw the sun symbol and your sun sign, say­ing “Lady, guard me from harm in everything ruled by the sun.”  Do the same for the moon in the next area, likewise for the other eight planets.  In the central, eleventh area, place your rising sign, the date, and your name, saying, “Lady guard me from all harm, in work or play, from this day on.”

4. Fold the paper up small, fold the cloth around it, and sew it shut; then sew it onto your cord (or chain). Place the cord around your neck, saying, “All praise to the Triple Goddess.”  The talisman should be worn at all possible times henceforward.

5. Thank the Lady, and either proceed with the meeting or break the circle.

6. If you don’t have your birth chart, use just the planetary symbols in step 3.  Also, it is effective to figure out nonce sigils to combine the planetary and zodiacal symbols.; e.g., draw the Sun symbol inside the sign your birth sun is in.