Hey, I want to become a Wiccan and I'm not sure how to start. How do I get a BOS? Do I have to make it or can I buy one? How do I make an altar? How do I do a dedication ritual? Do I wear a pentagram? Thank you so much
Wicca is, first and foremost, your journey. Nobody else can take it for you, but that also means that nobody else can, at the end of the day, really criticise much about how you do things. Everyone practices differently, and everyone’s path takes them by a different way, but the destination is the same, which is connection to the gods and connection to oneself. It’s completely OK to be unsure of your destination, or to be unsure you will get there - however, if you know that this is not why you wish to enter Wicca then perhaps you should reconsider. Secular witchcraft has many of the same features of Wicca’s magickal practice, but it doesn’t have the religious aspect to it.
However! I’m sure you’ve already been through that, so I’ll move along!
, also known as a BoS, is a very common tool for Wiccans. It’s rather like a Wiccan’s diary, and contains in it any aspects of their practice or ritual or even life that they think is relevant or that they’d quite like to put in it. I’ve
already written about it in more depth here
, but I’ll summarise it here too:
Handmaking a BoS is fine. So is buying it, because at the end of the day it’s YOUR choice what you do. If you’re crap at making things, don’t make a shoddy product because you have some vague sense of duty.
Use a loose-leaf binder, you have no idea how useful this is.
Decorate it in a way that is meaningful to you, don’t decorate it with skulls and black just because you think that’s “witchy”. If you like skulls and black though, go ahead.
Coven books should not be the high priest/esses personal book. It just makes things confusing when they leave.
A book of shadows isn’t some kind of rule. You don’t even have to have one.
It’s acceptable to write your BoS in some flowing, runic script… provided you can actually read it. You have no idea how many people I’ve seen going “I wrote my BoS in Elvish, and now I can’t read a damn word”.
As for obtaining one, I went down to OfficeWorks, found a loose-leaf binder with a white cover, bought 500 sheets of loose-leaf paper, and went home. Then I doodled on it with pencil, and filled it in with permanent marker. I don’t use it much, since my brain holds almost all of my witchy stuff, but it’s good for sigils and herbalism.
Another one that often stumps beginner Wiccans (so don’t feel bad about it, you’re asking the same questions as everyone else at this point) is the
What is an altar? How do I make one? Do I need one? How can a hidden witch or a witch living with unaccepting people make an altar and keep it safe?
These are all really involved questions, and I may simply make a big post about it pretty soon in order to answer all these common questions. However, I’ll write a quick summary here and then later post a big, big thing about altars to clarify more fully.
What is an altar?First of all, an altar is many things but at its core it is a sacred space in which you practice and are most connected to the Gods. It is usually tied to a physical object, but this is not always the case - I myself have been working with converting my herb garden into a big, walk-in altar space, in addition to my small altar in the house.
One can have as many altars as they feel they require, though I do recommend that if you don’t USE that altar very often, you consider not making it an altar or closing the circle for good. This is because unused altars are a bit like unused houses, because they provide ready-made shelter for lots of smaller creatures, not all of which are beneficial. Unused houses attract black widows and snakes; unused altars attracted negative spirits. Though, bear in mind that like black widows and snakes, negative spirits are not evil, they’re just not good for humans. They’re still a necessary part of the magickal world.
So really, an altar space (not spelt “alter”!) is just an area that you have made magickal and sacred through your use and dedication of it to a specific goal. Objects on the altar can be important to your practice, but they are not important to the altar space itself because this is just “sacred ground”.
What about the objects and the altar table though?Whilst an altar space is simply sacred ground, the altar itself can feature a number of objects, both decorative and functional. The most common functional objects are the athame, the chalice, and the offering dish - the athame being a ceremonial knife, the chalice being a ceremonial cup, and the offering dish being something on which to place offerings to the Gods or the spirits.
What objects you use are entirely up to you. For the sake of keeping it short, I won’t go into them, but some people want only a simple altar with a few crystals and a knife and a bowl, and others want expansive altars with real deer antlers and black velvet for a cloth and 5 sizes of candle with a full size God and Goddess statue or whatever. Both kinds of altar are completely fine, because an altar is what matters to YOU, not what matters to someone else. My most used altar is simply a ceramic bowl, filled with a few small ritual items and a pentagram necklace, which is only a few inches across and allows me to have an altar wherever I go.
What about altars for hidden witches?In this case, I recommend an altar that is not an altar. I recommend you find a shoebox or something similar, and simply place within it all the elements of your practice that you cannot do without. A letter opener for an athame, a mug for a chalice. Small, innocent things that appear to simply be random objects. Don’t use pentagrams or skulls - they’re not necessary parts of your craft, and they’re indisputably witchy. To be fair, NO physical objects are “really” necessary, because at the end of the day it’s our will and our minds that truly matter. However, it can be hard to practice without at least a few objects. Perhaps a candle too, a box of matches, and underneath it a tea-towel or an old bit of cloth, to act as your altar cloth. An altar is what YOU make of it, after all.
Ah yes, that most quintessentially witchy object of them all, the pentagram (or more accurately, the pentacle). A pentagram is any five-pointed star, a pentacle is a five-pointed star encapsulated by a circle that touches all 5 points.
This object is really common in Western witchcraft, and many Wiccans claim it as being a Wiccan symbol. However, it’s no more Wiccan than it is any other form of practice. The pentagram represents the 5 elements, which are spirit (the top point) and the other points are fire, water, earth, and air.
Many Wiccans wear pentacles as necklaces or bracelets, but this isn’t mandatory! I carry one in my bag, but I don’t wear it or even bring it out that often. I just feel better for having it, you know? If you think wearing one is right for you, go ahead <3 It doesn’t make you less of a witch NOT to do so.
A dedication is a personal choice to “dedicate” oneself via a special ritual (often one related to coven practice, but many solitaries also self-dedicate) to a deity or to a group of deities. I am dedicated to the Goddess, because I was called to serve Her, but since this is not a Wiccan-exclusive thing many people are dedicated to all manner of deities or pantheons.
I recommend you decide for yourself whether you wish to dedicate your worship and study to a specific deity/pantheon, and then if the answer is yes do some research. Find out what the historical dedication has been - I used a dedication to Artemis which I identified from a Greek text, and then I performed a similar Celtic one to honour my Celtic heritage.
It’s up to you to whom you dedicate and how you do it. Covens may require you to be dedicated to a specific deity in order to join, but if you are not ready for that then don’t allow yourself to be pressured into it. It’s a big decision! You CAN practice Wicca without dedicating yourself to anyone, it’s completely OK!
I hope this helps anyone who needs it!
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