Broom Pentacle Embossed Leather Journal, 5" x 7"

This pentacle keeps company with the witch's working tools: a broom for sweeping a space clean and a cauldron for the work done within it, set around the encircled star and framed in Celtic knotwork. The 5 by 7 inch leather journal carries the whole scene embossed on the cover and closes with a latch. Inside are 200 pages of tree-free, recycled paper.

It is made to become a Book of Shadows: the working book where a practitioner keeps spells, rituals, correspondences, dreams, and the turning of a practice over the years. Broom, cauldron, and pentacle together make the cover a small portrait of the craft at work.

Key Features

• Broom, cauldron, and pentacle design. The encircled star set among the witch's working tools and framed in Celtic knotwork. The art is the heart of the book, for practitioners who want the whole working scene on the cover.
• Leather cover with latch closure. A leather cover wraps the pages, and a secure latch keeps your writing private at home, in circle, or in a travel bag.
• 200 tree-free, recycled pages. Unlined paper with no ruling, an earth-minded choice that leaves room for script, sigils, diagrams, and pressed herbs alike.
• Portable 5 by 7 inch size. One of a family of leather ritual books in the shop, each bearing a different emblem and offered in more than one size, so you can match the symbol and format to your practice.

Product Details

• Dimensions: 5" x 7"
• 200 unlined pages of tree-free, recycled paper
• Leather cover with embossed pentacle, broom, and cauldron, framed in Celtic knotwork
• Latch closure
• Sold as a blank book for writing, drawing, and ritual record-keeping

The Spiritual Significance

A Book of Shadows is a witch's working book, and despite the old-world weight of the name it is a fairly modern tradition. Gerald Gardner's mid-twentieth-century Wicca formalized the practice, with each initiate copying rituals and lore by hand into a book of their own. Its ancestors are the older grimoires such as the Key of Solomon, but the idea of a personal, hand-kept book of one's craft belongs to living modern witchcraft.

The pentacle is the witch's emblem above all others, a five-pointed star for earth, air, fire, and water crowned by spirit, enclosed in a circle that binds and protects. Here it keeps company with the broom and the cauldron. The broom, or besom, is the emblem of cleansing, sweeping a space clear before the work begins, and the cauldron is the vessel of transformation, the place where things are changed. Gathered with the pentacle and framed in the endless line of Celtic knotwork, they make the cover a small portrait of the craft at work.

How To Use

1. Cleanse it first. Pass the cover through cleansing smoke or leave it in moonlight overnight to clear the handling it has been through before it becomes yours.
2. Dedicate the first page. Write an opening dedication, to your practice and the work you mean to do, naming what this book is for.
3. Keep your craft in it. Record spells and their results, ritual outlines, correspondences, dreams, and the questions you are working through. A Book of Shadows is most useful when it is honest.
4. Tend the book. Close the latch to keep it shut, store it away from damp, and condition the leather occasionally so it lasts as long as the practice it holds.

Pairs Well With

• Steampunk Pen and Calligraphy Set: a dip pen for writing entries with more ceremony than a ballpoint allows.
• Dragon's Blood Ink by Espiritu, 1 oz: the traditional red ink for consecrated writing, sigils, and petitions in the book.
• Parchment Paper by Espiritu, 3" x 4": loose petition and spell papers to write and tuck between the pages.
• Sage and Frankincense Smudge Stick: cleansing smoke to consecrate the book before its first use, the way the broom on the cover sweeps a space clean.
• Pentagram Pewter Pocket Stone: the same five-pointed star for the altar or pocket, tying the book to the rest of your working space.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between this and the Pentacle Leather Blank Book with Cord?

This one sets the pentacle among a broom and cauldron, the witch's working tools, framed in Celtic knotwork, on 200 tree-free pages with a latch. The Pentacle Leather Blank Book with Cord carries the plain encircled pentacle with a Celtic border and a cord. Choose the fuller scene or the plain star.

Are the pages lined or blank?

The 200 pages are blank and unlined, tree-free recycled paper with no ruling. That leaves you free to write in any hand, draw sigils and diagrams, or press herbs and petals flat between the leaves without lines getting in the way.

What size is the journal?

It measures 5 by 7 inches, a portable size that still gives you room to write a full working on a page. It slips into a bag for circle or travel, and the latch keeps it closed while it moves.

What do the broom and cauldron mean?

The broom, or besom, is the witch's emblem of cleansing, sweeping a space clear before the work begins. The cauldron is the vessel of transformation. With the pentacle of protection, the cover gathers three of the craft's central images into one scene.

Do I have to use it as a Book of Shadows?

Not at all. It is simply a beautiful blank book. Many keep it as a Book of Shadows or grimoire, but it works just as well as a dream journal, a tarot diary, a sketchbook, or an everyday journal for someone who loves the symbol.