Triquetra Leather Journal With Latch, 5" x 7"

The triquetra is the witch's trinity knot: a single unbroken line woven into three arcs, a small emblem of three things held as one. This 5 by 7 inch leather journal carries it embossed on the cover, wound about with spiral knotwork, and closes with a latch. Inside are 192 pages of handmade 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. The knotwork on the cover, a line with no beginning and no end, sets a quiet emblem of continuity around everything you write within.

Key Features

• Triquetra and spiral knotwork design. The trinity knot wound in spirals, hand-tooled into the leather cover. The art is the heart of the book; border embossing varies a little, so each one is its own.
• Leather cover with latch closure. A leather cover wraps the pages, and a latch keeps your writing private at home, in circle, or in a travel bag.
• 192 handmade pages. Unlined sheets with the deckle texture of hand-pressed paper, 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; a 240-page triquetra edition is also offered, so you can match the page count to your practice.

Product Details

• Dimensions: 5" x 7"
• 192 unlined pages of handmade paper
• Hand-tooled leather cover, embossed triquetra with spiral knotwork
• Latch closure
• Border embossing may vary from book to book
• 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 triquetra, or trinity knot, is an old Celtic interlace figure, a single unbroken line woven into three arcs. You find it in medieval Insular manuscripts and carved on Norse stones, and Christianity later read it as the Holy Trinity. Modern witchcraft and Wicca have taken it up in turn for the threefold patterns it can hold, maiden, mother, and crone, or earth, sea, and sky, or mind, body, and spirit, and for the sense of protection people have long found in unbroken knotwork, a line with no opening for harm to enter. Wound here in spiral knotwork, the emblem of cycles and the turning year, it makes a steady cover for a book kept across many seasons.

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, naming what this book is for and the work you mean to keep in it.
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.
• Triquetra Cast Iron Chime Holder: the same trinity knot on the altar, holding a chime candle beside your working book.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between this and the Triquetra Leather Blank Book?

This is the 192-page version, with the triquetra wound in spiral knotwork. The Triquetra Leather Blank Book with Latch sets a bolder triquetra on goat leather, with 240 pages and a brass latch. Both are 5 by 7 inches, so choose by page count and finish.

Are the pages lined or blank?

The 192 pages are unlined handmade 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. The latch keeps it closed while it travels.

What does the triquetra mean?

It is the trinity knot, an old Celtic interlace of one unbroken line in three arcs. In modern witchcraft it holds threefold patterns such as maiden, mother, and crone, and the unbroken line is read as protection and continuity.

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.