Book of Shadows - more than "just" witchcraft
Hello dear friends of basic trust and soul rushing,
First of all, I would like to thank you very much for the incredible amount of feedback on the blog article "Return of the Witches". Maybe it's because we women feel that our primal feminine energy no longer wants to be suppressed.
We no longer just want to be nice and well-behaved, beautiful and slim, cook and bake well, be a good housewife, be the strong woman behind the man. We no longer want to be described as hysterical, crybaby, "she's on her period", "she just needs to be right..." etc. and, above all, to be seen.
As I wrote in the Return of the Witches article, the Church has recognized something that many men, and many women too, do not want to see or admit.
It is the incredible power of female energy. When the corset is broken, the cage is broken open and a real connection to this powerful primal energy takes place, then the world changes - first for the woman who opens up to her magical power and then everything that touches her.
And then something extraordinary can happen: the male energy can finally flow freely again and together we create new worlds. Ultimately, it is about bringing both energies into balance (Yin and Yang signs). This is how we create a perfect world.
But we're not there yet. We are still on the journey of discovery. We're still gathering courage to show ourselves. To heal – wound that we have long covered quickly because we are afraid of the pain and the sense of annihilation and powerlessness.
But we no longer have to roll through every former pain. We don't have to feel everything again. We can, but we don't have to. What was once is gone and the new time is waiting for us. To our energy, to our creativity. In this way we honor all women who have gone before us and all women who will come after us.
But how to get it? Like lifting that treasure of energy that is already within us, just waiting to be lived.
There are many ways, many possibilities.
Today I would like to introduce you to, let's say, a somewhat unusual path that has long been pigeonholed as "witches".
It's the "Book of Shadows"
For a long time I had the image of a medieval herb witch who had a thick book in which she wrote everything down. But writing, women and the Middle Ages do not belong together.
The "Book of Shadows" is a newfangled term and was only coined in the last century. The "Book of Shadows" is still absolutely virgin in front of us and can get our very individual meaning.
Yes, the "Book of Shadows" is used by many "new witches" today to record recipes, rituals, magic spells, etc.
BUT and this is important to me here: it is so much more. It can do so much more.
For me, the "Book of Shadows" is a journey to myself, to my primal feminine energy and power and yes, also to my creative abilities (which one could then call magic). If you change something, then you are working magically. You can transform your being, your life, your relationships, the way money flows to you. Everything can be changed.
But in order to truly change, it is important to know yourself. Yes, here we are again - right in the middle of the soul work.
The "Book of Shadows" is a place where you record everything that seems important to you. Writing is magic. Because we make something permanent out of the realm of visions, of inspiration, of the easily ephemeral.
We often take far too little time for this - we also for ourselves and self-knowledge. Those who take courses with me in the Basic Trust Academy certainly already know the mantra. But the invitation is always: Write it down.
Write down your dreams - write down your inspirations - write down your insights - write down what seems important from books, films, the internet etc. - so that it can develop, so that true knowledge can grow from it.
We have several thousand people in the academy and you won't believe how often I hear the sentence: "I don't need to write that down, I won't forget it or I can recognize it like that, etc.!"
Yes, you can do it - but from experience I would like to give you two important points here: "Intuitions, dreams, visions, the insights from the etheric realm are incredibly fleeting. They go away quicker than we think. Then it's like gold nuggets in the river, we see them, we don't pick them up because we think "I know where it is!" and then the water churns up, we go a little further and can't find the gold nuggets again. We would only have had to bend down into the water once to lift the gold to have it with us. Then you can go on much more relaxed.
Therefore: write it down. Write down your dreams - your symbols - your inspirations - but also your wishes - your visions for a fulfilling life - also your worries, your fears, insecurities, hurdles that you want to be overcome and that you have already overcome - write down inspirations that you received from other people - Write down knowledge that you have received from other people and that you think is important to record now.
And here we come to the second point: take your time. That's the second sentence I've heard quite often in the academy: "I don't have time for this!"
I would like to modify a quote from Karl Lagerfeld (which I personally find completely stupid - it's the sweatpants quote): If you don't have five minutes a day FOR YOU and writing down important insights - then you have no creative power over your life . Then we are more like an ant working off. Who runs diligently in the hamster wheel to keep everything going.
Five minutes - that's nothing in terms of time. We also have five minutes (and certainly many more) to watch some "stupid" videos on Youtube, FB, Insta and wherever. We have five minutes to write any comments. We have five minutes to fully search a 24-episode series in one night. We have five minutes to get angry with our parents, neighbors, teachers, government, etc.
But we don't have five minutes to create a nice space to sit in, the candle is lit, a nice drink ready for self-contemplation? Don't we have time for that? sad right?
Often we may go into the Book of Shadows work with an idea that complicates it. We think there always needs to be a "sacred" space, the children, the partner, the pets, etc. all have to be gone. You have to be alone etc.
I'm always working on my Book of Shadows at our large dining room table in our open plan living/kitchen area. There I paint, there I write, there I dream... And the life of my family goes on around it... sometimes my children sit at the table. Doing homework, doing jigsaw puzzles, painting too.... Sometimes I scratch one or the other dog... sometimes my husband hears the news....
I don't take the work on the "Book of Shadows" out of everyday life... I integrate it... It doesn't all have to vanish into thin air when I load the dishwasher, read a book, etc.
The sanctity of doing arises within me. The space of mindfulness arises in me and then reflects this energy on the outside. I then sink into my doing and the space of mindfulness then arises around me. And my kids love to dive in here. And my girls learn how to work on the Book of Shadows on their own from me.
It's about bringing our femininity into life and living it. It's all about stepping out of the shadows into the light.
We have these five minutes for our soul work. The question is rather: how important is it for us to take this time?
Extraordinary moments of insight often arise while working on the Book of Shadows. In writing and painting we can often deal with our own shadow themes. Such as "I can't do that!" - "God, my writing looks terrible!" - "The picture will never work!" - "I should actually vacuum!" - "Am I wasting my time here?" - " Do something more meaningful!” – “What’s the point of all this?” etc.
I can tell you what working on the "Book of Shadows" brings: it brings you to yourself. It brings you more and more to the knowledge of how you want to shape your life so that it feels good. So that you love being alive. It brings you the realization of what gifts are in you and how you can live them now. It brings you the realization of what you want to do with your precious lifetime.
The "Book of Shadows" is a record of your soul's journey to yourself. We record important points, insights, inspirations, etc. there.
We bring things out of the shadows into the light. And be careful: it doesn't always have to be negative things. Our talents, our desires, our needs, our longings often lie in the shadows at first. It is important to bring them into the light so that a positive change can take place in my life. So don't be afraid of shadow work. Let's lift the jewels so we can feel rich and fulfilled.
And in the "Book of Shadows" we record our personal development steps, as well as inspirations from others that we don't want to forget.
I know that creating a Book of Shadows often sounds so abstract that it's hard to know where to begin. For this reason I have decided to offer a completely new course where we will do exactly that.
We will create a "Book of Shadows" together for a year. You will get a lot of inspiration from me and the great mixed media artist and American shaman Michelle Pendergrass for your very personal, extraordinary "Book of Shadows".
I love this work very much and I am happy to pass on my knowledge and the knowledge of Michelle to you.
Because that, too, is witchcraft: we pass on knowledge. We inspire others to bring their talents and gifts out of the shadows and into the light. We open gates so that the female energy can flow and draw in its full strength and power again.
I look forward to you joining us on our extraordinary journey together to your "Book of Shadows" in the great time of transformation.
Love, your Jennifer
