Keeping a Journal

One of the best things that you can do for yourself in beginning magick, is to get yourself a journal to write your notes, thoughts and feelings in. Keeping a record is important because of three critical factors which are, your time, your development and so that you can observe your results. Without this critical information it is all too easy to feel lost while practicing magick, and measurable results are easily forgotten.

Keeping a journal of your thoughts and feelings is one of the most important things you can to to help you develop your mind. Being able to recount what you have tried, or returning to something that you wanted to try is a beneficial thing. While keeping a journal, you will be able to review your writing and it will be a record of your successes and failures. Keeping your record, and recalling your experiences while you write them, is also a productive exercise for your mind which increases its capability in positive ways.

What to keep in your journal

The idea is basic - get yourself a loose leaf binder or a spiral notebook, and something comfortable to write with, and make sure that you write at least one page per day. Perhaps set aside a certain time of day [or night] to write in your journal as well. These notes are for you alone to read so don't hold back when relating your experiences.

Here are some examples of what you can keep in your journal. You can include your Meditations, visualizations and exercises along with the results. Try to be specific with how you feel, what you think, what happened that was out of place or unusual, and perhaps even what you hope or expect to happen for you. Some other things that you could write in your journal are rituals and spells, and your results from these rituals and spells. Eventually, you may want to include and charts or graphs and illustrations of occult concepts that you are studying.

In time you will have several books of notes to reference. I have found that I still keep notes now and then depending on what projects that I am working on. After 14 years of magick, I no longer keep a daily journal - But I still reference notes when the need arises. Hopefully your notes will be a never-ending source of material from which you can reference and use as a way to increase your understanding of metaphysics and magick. In time you will have many note and records that you can reference for future use and you will never feel lost or unsure of your next direction, because you will have your notes to guide you.

Not a Book of Shadows, but a Magick Diary

Your notebooks are not a Book of Shadows, as a Book of Shadows is traditionally created and used by a coven of witches for Traditional Witchcraft or {Gardinerian]Wicca. this is a personal journal of magick. This notebook is a record of your private self, your desires and your accomplishments, and a chance to look within ones own self and be critical. Because of the nature of this information, your journal should remain secret. You must decide to begin today and take that step into creating a good foundation into your study of magick. The notebook and its records serves as a means of self-observation from which you can gage your sucess.