[grimoirechallenge]

I just wanted to say thanks for keeping this open. I didn't get very far in the challenge last year because I have a hard time managing stuff like this and school at the same time, but I want to try again this year anyway and I'm glad it's still up.

Do it, do it, do it!

[grimoirechallenge]

Hello, all! 

Well – we didn’t make it through the full year, but I gave you seven months of challenges and I think that’s pretty awesome. I hope you’ve taken the initiative and continued to make your grimoires grow. 

And, hey, if you’re just joining us, go ahead and start at the beginning. You won’t get behind, I promise. 

Here are some things that I wanted to go over before the year closes out:

For archival purposes, this tumblr will stay open. However, I will (obviously) not be updating it with further challenges. I know that people still make use of the challenges and I don’t particularly feel like taking it away from you. Feel free to do any of the challenges at any point in time. 

You can use the 2016 Grimoire Challenge to create derivational challenges; however, please don’t plagiarize my prompts. You know who you are. A little nod back to the source material is always appreciated. 

Please, please, please keep growing your grimoire. Share what you feel comfortable sharing. Keep secret what you don’t. If you couldn’t already tell, I think having a record of your practice is super important – especially in a time when a lot of the books on witchcraft are biased toward certain things and contain any number of -isms (racism, sexism, etc.). And, hey, maybe I’m hoping that the next generation of books of witchcraft will be a little more inclusive.

It’s been swell. Hope your 2017 treats you well! 

Bea

[oracledreamqueen]

will there be a 2017 grimoire challenge?

[grimoirechallenge]

Nope.

[grimoirechallenge]

Hello, all! 

Well -- we didn’t make it through the full year, but I gave you seven months of challenges and I think that’s pretty awesome. I hope you’ve taken the initiative and continued to make your grimoires grow. 

And, hey, if you’re just joining us, go ahead and start at the beginning. You won’t get behind, I promise. 

Here are some things that I wanted to go over before the year closes out:

For archival purposes, this tumblr will stay open. However, I will (obviously) not be updating it with further challenges. I know that people still make use of the challenges and I don’t particularly feel like taking it away from you. Feel free to do any of the challenges at any point in time. 

You can use the 2016 Grimoire Challenge to create derivational challenges; however, please don’t plagiarize my prompts. You know who you are. A little nod back to the source material is always appreciated. 

Please, please, please keep growing your grimoire. Share what you feel comfortable sharing. Keep secret what you don’t. If you couldn’t already tell, I think having a record of your practice is super important -- especially in a time when a lot of the books on witchcraft are biased toward certain things and contain any number of -isms (racism, sexism, etc.). And, hey, maybe I’m hoping that the next generation of books of witchcraft will be a little more inclusive.

It’s been swell. Hope your 2017 treats you well! 

Bea

[grimoirechallenge]

Recently read the post concerning lack of new challenges and completely understand. Newcomer here! Would it still be alright for me to go back to the beginning and work my way up?

Of course. Do it. 

[grimoirechallenge]

Really seems like the Grimoire Challenge has kinda tapered off. It was a good idea in the beginning, but now it seems like we all failed the challenge.

Like, if people are willing to start posting their progress again like they did in the beginning I’d totally be willing to start it back up. But the amount of work I was putting into the challenge wasn’t worth the return I was getting from others. It seemed like everyone forgot that the Grimoire Challenge was started in order to be a social community -- (the general) you were supposed to post your results of the challenges so that everyone could learn from everyone else. 

Like, I’ll probably pop back up in December so we can all organize our stuff, but at the moment the risk isn’t worth the reward, so to speak. I’m not going to stress myself out over getting challenges up if I’m not being met halfway. 

[king-of-shimmering-darkness-dea]

The top picture is my notebook of research, ritual drafts, spell ideas, etc. For the 2016 Grimoire Challenge I’m using Microsoft OneNote because it’s easier to track the project and create posts from it.

The bottom two pictures are of my actual grimoire. I bought it at a Renaissance Faire a number of years ago. When I’ve filled the current book, I hope I can find a new one that will fit in the tooled leather cover. I record final rituals, spells worked, recipes, correspondences, etc. The contents aren’t as fancy as some, but I can find what I need. Eventually I’ll add pieces from the 2016 Grimoire Challenge.

Other pieces from the challenge will go into the notebook for future tinkering. I’m perfectly capable of, and comfortable with, using technology, but sometimes it takes pen and paper to really get the creative juices flowing.

[king-of-shimmering-darkness-dea]

2016 Grimoire Challenge - March - Week 3 - Wednesday

(Going back and picking up some of the weeks I missed.)

Scrying Activity: List out the different methods you can use for scrying and mark the ones you are interested in trying. If you need to gather any materials, do so now. 

The American Heritage College Dictionary defines scry as “To see or predict the future with a crystal ball.” I’ve always thought it was not just looking at the future but also seeing what was going on now someplace distant. That is the way it is often used in fiction, especially fantasy and fairy tales. It’s what Professor Marvel pretends to do when Dorothy meets up with him after she’s run away from home in The Wizard of Oz.

Scrying involves entering a trance state and observing symbols, although some practitioners claim they see actual people and events.

 Methods for Scrying:

Mirror

Water

Fire

Crystal Ball (interesting that some of what I’ve read talks about spheres that aren’t clear quartz)

Flat Surfaced Crystals

Clouds

 What I have on hand:

Water in a bowl

Crystal spheres

Candles (flame qualifies as fire…)

[grimoirechallenge]

Want to have your challenges featured in this challenge? Check out this post!

If you are just joining us - and I know there are some of you out there! - you should definitely check out the FAQ. If you have a question, head there first. Chance are I’ve already answered it.

You’re encouraged to just jump in wherever we’re currently at, so if you’re just now starting the challenge, start with this week’s challenges! You’ll totally have more time to go back and do what we’ve already completed.

If you’ve been posting pictures of your grimoire outside the confines of a challenge week, I’ve been trying to reblog these and tag them organization so that when December rolls around we have a compendium of inspiration from which to draw. Resources is just what it’s named - if you have any to share, feel free to @-mention me in a post so I can find and reblog it.  

This week’s challenge is inspired by  feverfew-brew!

Monday

Journal Activity: What are the concepts and paradigms that define your practice? How have these changed since beginning the challenge? What hasn't changed? What would you like to change? What sort of concepts would you like to bring into your practice? 

Research Activity: Choose one of the concepts you’d like to bring into your practice and research it. What are some ways you can incorporate them into your practice? 

Tuesday

Divination Activity: Choose a divination method you enjoy. Is there a specific time when it is best performed (for example, at dawn, day, dusk, or night)? How strongly is this method tied to this time and why? If it can be performed at any time, what makes it so versatile? Are there any other constraints on this method that you can think of?

Divination Activity: At the appropriate time, use your preferred divination method. Record your reading and note whether the time enhanced your reading. Record your experience. Repeat the method during a time in which you would not usually use it -- did the experience change? Record in what ways it was different and in what ways it was similar. 

Wednesday

Correspondence Activity: What season is it for you? What sort of things correspond with the season you're currently experiencing? What do you use to increase the affects of the season you're in? What do you use to decrease the affects of the season you're in?

Correspondence Activity: What three items have you used most in your practice lately? Why do you feel drawn to these items? How do they enhance your spell work? What are the limitations of these items

Thursday

Spell Activity: Using your season information from yesterday, craft a spell that corresponds to the season in which you’re currently experiencing. 

Material Activity:  Choose a correspondence from your list. Use this correspondence to make a material that can be used in your spellwork - for example, a crystal can be used to make a gem elixir, an herb can be made into a powder or water, etc.

Friday

Plant Activity: What herbs or other items that can be used in your practice can be found locally, whether it be in your garden or in the wild? Look into plant hardiness zones, local plant identification sources, and plant or seed purchase information. 

Plant Activity: Continue the activity above for the remaining seasons. 

[grimoirechallenge]

I hope you're feeling ok. No challenges this week? If you're sick or just too busy, please feel better soon and good luck with whatever task you are busy with!!

I’m moving this week and it’s literally the worst thing ever right now. Hopefully we’ll be back to our regular scheduled program next week. 

In case anyone wants to help out, read this post and send in a challenge!

[grimoirechallenge]

This is a beautifully informative blog. Love it!

Thank you!

[king-of-shimmering-darkness-dea]

2016 Grimoire Challenge - July - Week 1 - Monday

Monday Activities

Journal Activity: Symbols

As a Christian the Cross is a major symbol, also Greek letters Alpha and Omega, lambs

As a Tarot Reader: Cups, Pentacles, Swords, and Wands

As a devotee of Pan: Oak  Leaves, Greek letters that spell Pan, phallus, goats, there’s a stick figure  representation that I have used in some of my work

Astrological symbol for Capricorn also sometimes used to represent Pan

Shepherd’s crook is both a symbol of Pan and Christ

Triangle Symbols for Earth, Air, Fire, and Water

 Sigil Activity:

I’ve not used symbols to create sigils in my work, but some of the sigils I’ve created have become symbols. The icon on my blog is of a sigil I developed in my work. It might be interesting to try creating sigils from symbols.

[thevegetablegardenwitch]

Kinda happy with my grimoire 💚

[king-of-shimmering-darkness-dea]

2016 Grimoire Challenge - July - Week One - Tuesday

Divination [Journal?] Activity: Can your symbols be used in divination? Any symbol can be used in divination. The triangle symbols for Earth, Air, Fire, and Water are on the Minor Arcana cards in my Sun and Moon Tarot deck. Of course, the symbols on yesterday’s list could be used for divination. This leads directly into the second activity for the day.  I created a quick and dirty set of oracle cards using index cards and a Sharpie (pictured below). It will take some experimentation to know how these would work. If I find they are useful in my work, I might consider making runes/tiles using polymer clay.

[grimoirechallenge]

Want to have your challenges featured in this challenge? Check out this post!

If you are just joining us - and I know there are some of you out there! - you should definitely check out the FAQ. If you have a question, head there first. Chance are I’ve already answered it.

You’re encouraged to just jump in wherever we’re currently at, so if you’re just now starting the challenge, start with this week’s challenges! You’ll totally have more time to go back and do what we’ve already completed.

If you’ve been posting pictures of your grimoire outside the confines of a challenge week, I’ve been trying to reblog these and tag them organization so that when December rolls around we have a compendium of inspiration from which to draw. Resources is just what it’s named - if you have any to share, feel free to @-mention me in a post so I can find and reblog it.  

This week’s set of challenges is inspired by @althara! Let’s get to it.

Monday

Journal Activity: What kinds of symbols do you use in your practice? Think both along the lines of symbols inspired by text and symbols from your practice or religion. Make a list of the symbols you use. Why do they have significance in your practice?

Sigil Activity: How can you use the symbols you commonly use in your practice in the creation of sigils? Do the symbols affect how the sigil works? Create a sigil using your most used symbol. 

Tuesday

Divination Activity: Can your symbols be used in divination? Have they traditionally been used in divination? What are some ways you could incorporate your symbols into divination?

Divination Activity: Using your list of symbols and other symbols/text for concepts outside your symbols, create a set of runes, oracle cards, or other divination method. 

Wednesday

Correspondence Activity: Using your list of symbols from Monday, create a list of correspondences and associations for your symbols. 

Research Activity: Choose one of your symbols and research it in greater detail. What are the origins of the symbol? How was the symbol used traditionally? How does this play into your use of the symbol?

Thursday

Spell Activity: Write a spell that depends on the use of one of your symbols. 

Research Activity: Choose one of your symbols and research it in greater detail. What are the origins of the symbol? How was the symbol used traditionally? How does this play into your use of the symbol?

Friday

Research Activity: Google symbols that are commonly found in witchcraft or in your area of practice. Can you find symbols that you don’t have included on your list? Would you consider incorporating these into your practice? If not, why? 

Research Activity: Choose one of your symbols and research it in greater detail. What are the origins of the symbol? How was the symbol used traditionally? How does this play into your use of the symbol?

[holdasown]

June, week 2, Monday

I use a wood burning tool, music on the iPod, pictures instead of statues. I think the computer/ internet is the most technology I use. Without it I could research as easy, meet people in the craft, find book. It’s the most witch tool I have really when you think about it. My Nook is full of witch books. I think whatever makes a witch comfy and gives them confidence to have more power can and will work. 

[holdasown]

June, week 2, Tuesday

I decided to try an online random word generator for the tech divination.  My words were:  continuous, equivalent, pagan, fashionable, cardinal, program

I think pagan showing up and cardinal was pretty cool. I liked this one. 

[a-bookish-wildling]

Amor Veni Cito

[2016 Grimoire Challenge - pop culture magic week inspiration. Although I did this before this challenge week, I feel it relates to the theme. I think the “Practical Magic” grimoire is an inspiration for a lot of people’s books. It certainly was/is for me. This page is not from my actual book, but is from my art journal book]

Art journal pages inspired by the grimoire from the movie “Practical Magic.” Page made with tissue paper background, decorative papers and vellum, stamping, embroidered trim, pressed rose petals and leaves. The charms, “Amor veni cito” and “Amor te teneo,” are love charms from Valerie Worth’s “The Crone’s Book of Wisdom,” which was republished as “Crone’s Book of Magical Words.”

The tag is an “artsy” version of a portable spell card. I make them because I have a bad memory. Although I can memorize stuff, I get nervous about it. I don’t think it’s necessary, at all, to memorize everything, but the idea is that if I can’t have my book with me I can make a little note card to have with me, it relieves my worry about forgetting something and I am less likely to actually forget it. Plus I like making them.