Goddesses and Gods of the Books
Witchcraft has never had any specific rules when it comes to deity. Many Witches I know use specific gods from history and mythology in their rituals. Others are perfectly content to call upon less specific entities, deities such as the Triple Goddess or Horned God. Some Witches use the titles Lady and Lord to signify the deities they honor. There’s no right or wrong here, and individuals are free to call upon whomever (and whatever) they wish. In my own practice, I use a combination of all these things.
There have been many deities over the centuries associated with themes such as wisdom, spellwork, literature, poetry, alphabets, and literacy, but very few with books. Since a Book of Shadows is a mixture of poetry, literature, spellcraft, and everything else a Witch might find useful, there are a great many gods and goddesses you can invoke to help you while writing your BoS. Deities can inspire and empower us and reveal things that we might not otherwise see; bringing them into the writing process can produce unexpected and powerful results.
Goddesses and Gods Associated with Literacy, Spellcraft, Alphabets, and Wisdom
Athena
Athena is the Greek goddess of wisdom and civilization. She was known by the Romans as Minerva.
Brigid
Brigid (also spelled Bride, Bridget, and several other ways) is one of the most celebrated of all the Celtic-Irish deities and is a goddess with many talents. As a goddess of the arts and poetry, she’s an especially useful companion when working on a Book of Shadows.
Ceridwen
Ceridwen is a Welsh fertility goddess but is probably better known for her cauldron of knowledge.
Ganesha
Ganesha (or Ganesh) is a Hindu god who is best known for resembling an elephant and for his rather happy-go-lucky nature. He’s also a god of wisdom and literature. Ganesha is an excellent deity to call upon when trying to find a situation’s lighter side.
Hermes
Hermes was originally the messenger of the Greek gods and in some traditions is seen as a trickster figure. He eventually became associated with a whole host of magical traditions as Hermes Trismegistus (“Hermes thrice greatest”), and in that role he is a god of magical texts and grimoires.
Odin
Odin gave the runes to humanity after hanging from Yggdrasil, the world tree.
Ogma
Ogma (also spelled Oghma) is an Irish god usually credited with inventing the ogham alphabet. In addition to being wise, he’s also a tremendous public speaker.
Sarasvati
Sarasvati (also spelled Saraswati) is a Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, speech, and the arts. She is credited with creating the Sanskrit alphabet.
Serapis
Serapis (also spelled Sarapis) is a Hellenic god from Egypt and serves as an intermediary between the two pantheons of Greece and Egypt. He is a god of wisdom and sometimes is honored as the husband of Isis. Because he walked between two different cultures, Serapis is also a god of harmony between different magical practices.
Seshat
Seshat (sometimes called Sefkhet-Seshat) is the wife of the Egyptian god Thoth and in some Egyptian myths is credited with being the inventor of hieroglyphics. Seshat is also the goddess of writing, scribes, planning, and architecture.
Thoth
Thoth (called Djehuti in his native Egypt) is the Egyptian ibis-headed god of knowledge, writing, magick, the moon, and wisdom.
Spells and Rituals Involving Individual Deities
Over the years I’ve called to several different goddesses and gods while writing my own BoS’s. Sometimes I’ve looked to them when I’ve lacked inspiration, and other times I’ve called on gods like Odin to thank them for what they have revealed to us. I’ve asked gods to bless the pens I use when writing my BoS and to empower the curses I place in my BoS’s to keep out unwanted visitors.
Before working with a deity in ritual, I suggest talking to it first and perhaps giving it an offering. I don’t think it’s wise to ask a deity we don’t know to help us with a problem, just like we wouldn’t ask someone we don’t know to help us move into a new house. Most goddesses and gods are very happy to be worshiped and honored by us mortals in exchange for a bit of assistance, but proceed cautiously when calling to an unfamiliar deity.
If the deities in the following rites don’t necessarily call to you, you can place your own favorites in them with some adjustments. I’ve tried to write about deities from a variety of pantheons to serve as many different Witches as possible, and I hope there’s something here that inspires your own practice.
Thoth Pen Blessing
When thinking about what deities to write about in this book, I immediately thought of Thoth, the Egyptian god of knowledge, writing, magick, the moon, and wisdom. With the exception of Hermes, Thoth is perhaps the best known magick user among all the gods worshiped in the Roman Empire. Often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis, Thoth is the Greek name of the Egyptian deity Djehuti (sometimes also spelled Zehuti).
The mythology surrounding Thoth is somewhat garbled. Some stories portray him as being the father of all the Egyptian deities, while others claim he was one of the sons of Osiris. The most interesting tale of his origins claims that his parents were the gods Horus and Set and that Thoth was born from Set after Horus tricked Set into eating his seed. While the myths may not agree on Thoth’s parentage, he’s a very old Egyptian god and survived into the modern era as a part of Hermes Trismegistus.49
Through the centuries, a whole host of magical practices have been attributed to Thoth. He was said to have had one of the largest libraries of magical books in existence, which could be accessed in some fashion by following him. Perhaps most famously, he was often viewed as a scribe and as the creator of the Egyptian hieroglyphs. As the inventor of Egyptian writing, he was often pictured with a pen made of reeds in his hand.
Because pens are commonly associated with Thoth, I like to ask for his blessing when designating one for magical work. As Thoth is also a god of innovation and creativity, I don’t think he minds that the pens I use for my BoS are of a more modern variety than what he used back in the days of the Egyptian pharaohs.
Pen Blessing Invoking Thoth
This blessing should be done at night, preferably under the light of the moon, as Thoth is a moon god. As for materials, you’ll need whatever pens you are blessing and a piece of nice paper for each pen. My preference is faux parchment paper, which can be found at most office supply stores; it is often a tan or gray color and resembles old pieces of parchment. “Special” paper always feels more magical to me than plain white copy paper, but the stuff you use in your copier will work just fine if you don’t want to make the extra investment.
Because this blessing involves actual writing/drawing, I tend to perform it indoors near a window where I can see the moon. If the glow of the full moon doesn’t provide enough light to see well, light a couple of candles. This blessing can be performed independently or in the middle of a proper ritual—whatever feels most appropriate to you.
Symbol of the Moon
Place your piece of parchment paper in a spot where it will be illuminated by a little bit of moonlight. Once it’s in position, draw the Egyptian hieroglyph of the moon upon it using the pen you wish to bless. There’s no reason to draw a small glyph either; make it big, and if it takes up the top quarter of your paper, even better. While you’re drawing the glyph, chant the following to the moon:
I call to the moon in the deep dark sky,
Bless my work and hear my cry.
This symbol tonight I draw for you
From this Witch’s heart so true.
If you have to repeat the chant while drawing the hieroglyph, all the better.
Thoth
After drawing the moon, draw the symbol of Thoth. While the ibis hieroglyph might appear difficult to draw, it’s actually pretty easy. If you aren’t much of an artist, start with a diamond shape for the body before moving on to the boomerang-like head. His legs can be rendered as simple lines. Take your time; there’s no hurry. As you’re drawing the symbol of Thoth, invoke the god:
Great Thoth, hear my call this sacred night
And assist me with my magick plight.
May your hand guide me as I write,
Your wisdom serving as my light.
Even if you get the hieroglyph drawn quickly, repeating the chant a few times will increase the presence and power of Thoth in your magical space. Sometimes I simply trance out a little bit and picture Thoth in my mind, repeating the chant long after I’m done drawing the glyph.
When you’re satisfied with your hieroglyphs and the presence of Thoth, place the pen you wish to bless on the paper, making sure it’s touching both symbols. Visualize the hieroglyphs you’ve drawn glowing in the moonlight, charging your pen with the powers of the moon and Thoth. While visualizing energy moving into the pen, repeat these words:
For this instrument I seek the blessings of Thoth!
God of the moon, god of knowledge, hear my prayer!
May I write only truth with this pen set before thee,
And may it serve both me and the gods I hold dear!
I place this pen in your service as an instrument
of truth!
May my words flow freely from it, and may those words contain the mysteries!
Let my script be precise and my writing clear,
And may this tool serve me well as I document
my journey!
Bless this pen, O Thoth, that it may serve me as a Witch.
When you are done blessing your pen, you can allow it to sit on the glyphs until the morning to soak up their power (and that of the moon). Alternatively, you can take your newly blessed pen and place it on your altar or writing desk. (Since your pen is now a tool blessed by a god, it’s best to keep it somewhere special and not with the ordinary pens.) The hieroglyphs you’ve drawn can be cut out and glued into your BoS, and if you keep your BoS in a binder, the whole page can be added to it. If you don’t want to keep the glyphs, burn them in the fire as an offering to Thoth.
Sophia and Jesus: Jewish and Christian Magick
Few issues in modern Paganism are more contentious than that of Christo-Paganism. There are many who believe that the god and goddesses of Judaism are off limits in both general Pagan practice and Witchcraft. But as we have seen, Judeo-Christian influences have contributed greatly to the development of the grimoire tradition, and many practitioners of magicks labeled Witchcraft over the ages identified as Christians.
Horrible things have been done in the name of Christianity over the centuries, but the essential message of Jesus (“Love your neighbor as yourself”) is exceedingly positive. I’ve never had much use for biblical figures in my own practice, but I know many good Witches who work with both Jesus and other figures related to the Bible. If you don’t work with those types of figures, this is an easy enough section to skip.
Some of you reading this might be surprised to learn that the God of the Old Testament (and, by extension, Judaism) has been associated with many female deities over the years. The most notable is probably Asherah, a very popular mother goddess figure throughout the region that today we call the Middle East. She was most likely worshiped as the consort of Yahweh and as the Queen of the Heavens in Ancient Israel. In 1999 archeologists found a jar dating back to the ninth century BCE on the Sinai Peninsula with the inscription “I bless thee by Yahweh and by his Asherah,” providing further proof as to the one-time marital status of Yahweh.50
Asherah does not appear as the consort of Yahweh in the Old Testament (in fact, she’s generally depicted as an evil, foreign goddess), but there’s another female deity who does: Wisdom, who is also known as Sophia in many (Pagan) Gnostic traditions. Wisdom appears in chapter 8 of Proverbs, where she extols the virtues of her very name:
Doesn’t Wisdom cry out?
Doesn’t understanding raise Her voice?
On the top of high places by the way,
where the paths meet, She stands.51
Sometimes I need to be reminded that ritual and my BoS’s are not the only ways to see and hear the divine. Taking a cue from Proverbs, there’s a wisdom blessing on the front page of one of my BoS’s to serve as a reminder that knowledge exists everywhere. Sometimes it’s too easy to get wrapped up in books, and it’s important to remember that as Witches we should also be listening to the earth.
Wisdom Blessing
Let Wisdom be my guide,
These shadows by my side.
May I hear the earth’s voice
And in my soul rejoice.
A child of book and breeze
Amongst the gods and fairies.
Over the last several years I have seen a significant uptick in the number of Witches who call upon Jesus of Galilee. Not all of them think of him as a god in the traditional sense; many see him as a great teacher of wisdom, and there are even some who think he might have been a Witch! (He did wander around in the desert for a while performing miracles. That sounds pretty witchy to me.)
The New Testament is mostly silent on the childhood of Jesus, but the writer of Luke mentions him as a twelve-year-old in the great Jewish Temple “sitting in the middle of the teachers, both listening to them, and asking them questions.” 52 This certainly doesn’t prove that Jesus was literate, but I find it likely. It also illustrates just how much he must have loved learning new things.
I haven’t worked with Jesus for nearly twenty years now, but the figure that appears in the Bible certainly seems to value learning and transmitting sacred ideas. Both of those things are qualities of a powerful Witch, and what we learn we often put into our BoS’s, and through our BoS’s we share ideas. Jesus may or may not have been a Witch, but I think he’d be happy being a part of a BoS today regardless.
Due to the frequency in which Jesus appears throughout the grimoire tradition, as Witches we might best be served to come to some sort of understanding with him. We don’t all need to worship him or bring him into our rituals, but when he appears in a spell or charm, we shouldn’t necessarily recoil from it. There have been many powerful and amazing magical people over the centuries who have identified as Christians or at least followers of Jesus.
When copying a spell out of a book that mentions Jesus, such as The Long Lost Friend, it’s best to remember that Jesus has been a part of the magical tradition now for 2,000 years. Of course he’s going to be there, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Witches use what works, and if a spell has been circulating continually for hundreds of years, then it probably works. We should utilize that to our advantage, no matter what god that spell invokes.
Odin and the Runes
The most popular magical alphabets in many Witch and Pagan traditions are the Norse (Scandinavian) runes, especially the ones known as the Elder Futhark (sometimes known as the Older Futhark, especially in scholarly circles). Runes have been in use as an alphabet for nearly 2,000 years now, first becoming popular at the beginning of the Common Era, with their last “mundane” use occurring as late as 1900.53 During the Viking heyday of the runes, they were generally just used as an alphabet, but, like most ancient alphabets, individual letters were thought to have magical associations. Most runic inscriptions are found on memorials to the dead, but there are surviving instances of runes being used in invocations to Norse gods and goddesses.54
Out of the two different styles of runes, it’s the Elder Futhark that is generally the most popular among Witches, most likely because it contains twenty-four letters, mimicking the twenty-six letters found in our own Latin alphabet. Even though the Elder Futhark are the runes that are most likely to show up among Witches, they are the ones we know the least about. The Elder Futhark were generally used to write a Proto-Germanic language that has not been fully translated.55
The Younger Futhark, with only sixteen letters, is harder to use in a modern context but is more well known to scholars because the language it was used for, Old Norse, is much better understood today than Proto-Germanic.56 Whatever your individual preference in runes, both sets were said to come from the Norse deity Odin (also known as Wodan, Woden, and a few other variant spellings), the All-Father of the gods. Odin was a god of many things, including poetry, war, royalty, and the sky, but most importantly for this book he was the god of knowledge and, by extension, the runes.
Elder Futhark
According to myth, Odin hung himself from a branch of the world tree Yggdrasil for nine days after first stabbing himself in the side with a spear. There, lingering between life and death, he discovered the secret of the runes, learning their magical properties and how to utilize those energies in the living world. The power of the runes granted him all sorts of magical powers and cemented his status as the strongest of the Norse gods. Eventually he shared the gifts of the runes with his people and, later, with us Witches.
One of the most important parts of the Odin myth is sacrifice. Odin had to work to earn the runes and he suffered physically for them. Witchcraft is similar, and while there are no hanging rituals involved in the practice, it does require work and perseverance. As Witches, it’s possible that we are forced to sacrifice many things (friends, family, time, and resources) in order to grow in our art. When a sacrifice has been made for us by a god or even a coven member, we should be respectful of it and take a moment to honor it.
While Odin is not credited with being the creator/revealer of magical scripts such as Theban, I’d be willing to bet that as a god of knowledge he’s pretty proficient with most of them. Because of his mastery of the runes, I like to ask for his assistance before transcribing a magical alphabet into my BoS. We certainly don’t have to ask for Odin’s blessing while writing down his runes, but considering how much he suffered for them, I think his sacrifice should be honored.
Odin Blessing
Since Odin is a god of the sky, I prefer to work with him during the day, preferably outside on a table in my backyard or perhaps a park bench in a sunny spot. If going outside is not possible, choose a spot near a window where you can feel the sunlight pouring in. No tool other than a pen (or other writing instrument) is required for this blessing, though you may want to bring some mead or other liquid to give to Odin as an offering.
Start by taking a deep breath and imagining Odin in your mind’s eye. Picture him suffering and lingering between life and death upon Yggdrasil while he gained the knowledge of the runes. Now picture those runes (or other magical letters) being used in your magical work. See them written in your BoS, upon slips of paper in spellwork, or perhaps worn around your neck or on a magical tool. Wherever you see them, imagine them glowing and radiating with power.
As you begin transcribing the runes into your BoS (I generally start by matching up each rune with its corresponding letter in our alphabet), start to quietly utter this chant:
Odin, bless these runes and my bless my art
With love and gratitude from my heart.
This chant is deliberately short so it can be memorized easily, and it should be repeated until the transcription is complete. As you write down each of the runes, feel Odin empowering them, blessing them with magical energy. Continue to picture him close to you as you write and chant, allowing him to be a part of the process. Upon copying down the last rune, finish your chant with an emphatic So mote it be!
Because Odin suffered so much to give us the runes, you can further put yourself in his good graces by leaving him an offering at the end of the blessing. Because Odin and the ancient Vikings enjoyed mead with some frequency, it’s my preferred offering for the Norse gods, but any sort of liquid will do. If there’s a tree around that calls to you, leave the mead there; if not, then any spot on the ground will do. While pouring out the mead, picture the god again and say:
I give thanks to you, great Odin!
As always your will be done!
So mote it be!
The Blessings and Curses of Aradia
Aradia is one of the most popular goddesses in modern Witchcraft, though her actual origins are hard to determine. She first shows up in the English-speaking world in the 1899 book Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches by American folklorist Charles Godfrey Leland (1824–1903). Aradia appears there as the divine daughter of Diana and Lucifer (the Morning Star). In the cosmology of Aradia, she’s a messianic figure who teaches Witchcraft to those who are downtrodden and oppressed.
Even Witches who aren’t familiar with Aradia (or the book named after her) have been influenced by her. The earliest version of the Charge of the Goddess appears in Aradia. There, Aradia teaches her followers how to properly honor her mother, Diana:
When I shall have departed from this world,
Whenever ye have need of anything,
Once in the month, and when the moon is full,
Ye shall assemble in some desert place,
Or in a forest all together join
To adore the potent spirit of your queen,
My mother, great Diana. She who fain
Would learn all sorcery yet has not won
Its deepest secrets, them my mother will
Teach her, in truth all things as yet unknown.
And ye shall all be freed from slavery,
And so ye shall be free in everything;
And as the sign that ye are truly free,
Ye shall be naked in your rites, both men
And women also: this shall last until
The last of your oppressors shall be dead. 57
The influence of Aradia on modern Witchcraft cannot be overstated.
Witches and their goddesses have traditionally been associated with the moon. Diana (Artemis in Greek mythology) was worshiped and honored as both a goddess of the moon and a goddess of Witchcraft. This association to Witchcraft has never wavered, and after Europe was essentially Christianized, Diana continued to be associated with Witches. Why would we expect any less from her daughter?
One of the biggest differences between the Italian Witchcraft of Aradia and most modern Witchcraft traditions is just how aggressive Leland’s Witches were. The phrase “until the last of your oppressors shall be dead” isn’t an isolated instance of negative magick in Aradia; the text is full of such proclamations. Because of this, I’ve always seen Aradia as a goddess of protection, and I often celebrate her as such in my coven.
While I have many BoS’s that I don’t mind sharing with others, some are not for public consumption and are reserved for only my wife and me. To these books I like to add a curse, and to give that curse a little extra added potency, I write the curse while invoking the goddess Aradia. Since Aradia is a goddess of the moon, when I write a curse in her name I prefer to do it either in the middle of an esbat (full moon) ritual or simply in a magical space on a full moon night. (A magical space could simply be a place outdoors that I find especially spiritual or my usual ritual room.)
Curse Invoking Aradia
Most curses in a BoS are placed near the front of the book and generally serve as a warning to the nosy. My BoS curse gives the curious an out before the curse is activated, which is why it starts off in a rather positive light before getting a bit nastier. I’d hate to accidentally curse my father if he just innocently picked up a book off my shelves.
This ritual does not require any tools. You will need a pen and a little bit of ceremonial wine (or grape juice), preferably held in a chalice or other magically significant container. Start by making sure your book is bathed in moonlight. If you’re working in a space where natural moonlight is not an option, then use the light of the candle. Hold your book open to the space where you want to add your curse, and call to the goddess Aradia:
Just as the Witches of old once did, I call to you,
great Aradia, this night of the full moon.
Hear my pleas, and if it would please thee,
help me in my magick! Lend your energies and
power to my rites so that I may preserve my secrets as a Witch!
While keeping your book in Aradia’s moonlight, begin writing the curse in your BoS. As the moonlight traces over your pen and your fingers, feel its energy moving into your BoS as you write the following:
For Witches true this book shall only be.
Close it now if you aren’t meant to see.
I conjure this curse upon those who pry.
Read not my words unless thee wish to cry,
For the unwanted are not allowed in.
Break ye my trust you shall be awash in sin.
Torment, pain, and sadness be upon you.
Those who would not to the art be true,
Go no further, thee who would avoid woe.
In the name of Aradia, let it be so!
After writing the curse down in your book, seal it into place by lightly dipping your finger into the wine (lightly being a key word here) and drawing a banishing pentagram over the page where your curse lies. As you draw the pentagram, say these words aloud:
With wine and power I seal this spell.
By the power of Aradia all will be well.
Out of my book trespassers will stay.
Aradia and I shall have our way!
So mote it be!
Before closing up your book make sure the wine has dried upon the page your curse has been placed. Be sure to thank the moon and Aradia for lending their energies to your work and for keeping your BoS safe from prying eyes.
49 Clive Barrett, The Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, 138.
50 Jonathan Kirsch, God Against the Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism, (New York: Viking Books, 2004), 31.
51 Proverbs 8:1–2 in the World English Bible, www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+8. (Emphasis and capitalization by Mankey.)
52 Luke 2:46 in the World English Bible, www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%202:46.
53 Anders Winroth, The Age of the Vikings (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2014), 214–215.
54 Ibid., 217.
55 Ibid.
56 Ibid.
57 Charles Godfrey Leland, Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches (1899), ch. 1, www.sacred-texts.com/pag/aradia/ara03.htm.