The Bullet Journal Grimoire: learning to keep a magical record
Hi. I’m Siri Vincent, a professional witch, rune reader, and tarot reader. If you’re interested in learning more about my work, check out my website: northernlightswitch.com.
What if I told you that your grimoire is your most important magical tool?
If you have ever cast a spell, or done a tarot reading, you’ll know that it’s essential to keep a record of your work. The personal grimoire (sometimes called a book of shadows) is your best tool for this. They help us to process the magic we’re doing, track results from spellwork, and serve as a potent record of our magical growth.
I have a deep adoration for notebooks, filing systems, and organization. I’m a Virgo rising — guilty as charged. But I don’t always live up to my personal organizational ideal. In general, when my grimoire is better organized, it’s easier for me to grow as a witch and magician. And that’s really the point of keeping the record — so that we can see how much we have grown over the years, as well as to track any results that we are looking for in our magic.
I have developed a pretty specific system for my own magical recording, and I’ve decided to share it because so very many people have asked about it. I’ve even collaborated in developing some tools to help you keep your own magical record.
But first: I need to talk about Bullet Journaling.
If you haven’t heard of Bullet Journaling I’ll explain it a bit. This is a system created by Ryder Carroll to help capture ideas, thoughts, and basically get all of those details out of your head and into one place: your journal. I am an avid Bullet Journaller. It truly does help me keep track of all of my to-dos and the outcomes of my brainstorming sessions. It also helps me to be more mindful. If I’m able to get the distractions out of my head and onto paper, I usually have a much better time keeping track of everything. I find it helps with my anxiety in a very real way.
If you’re curious about Bullet Journaling, check out Carroll’s video on it.
Here are several aspects of Bullet Journaling that I have incorporated into my personal grimoire:
- Index + Page Numbers
- Page Spreads
- Future Log
The most important aspect of my personal grimoire is the index and the page numbers. It’s so simple but honestly it has been a game changer for me. I have been keeping a magical record since I was a teenager, and I still have every single one of my old journals and grimoires. I will often reference these, especially when I’m teaching or when I want to replicate a spell for myself or a friend.
But this is also a pain in the neck, because my old magical journals are a hot mess.
The Index has been incredibly useful for me because it means that I can find things quickly. I can reference spells that I did six months ago, and if a new development has occurred that feels related, I can write it in the margins. This means I can track results on a short scale as well as a long scale. This also gives me a starting point if I need to do a spell for a similar result.
This next part isn’t connected to Bullet Journaling, but it is really important to maintaining a personal grimoire. I leave at least a half page next to each spell or ritual so that I can record any results from that ritual.
You need to have space to take notes. It’s really easy for me to use my index to go back and find a particular ritual, but if I don’t leave space I can’t update it. I like to record both what I did and then anything that happened after I cast the spell. I might also use some of this “results” section of the page for any ideas about what I would change if I were to replicate this spell.
On the left page of this journal is some spell instructions, and you can see that I have results written on the right side. (I’ve blocked it out because it’s private.) When looking back at this spell in the future, I will have more ideas for how I would adapt it, or ideas on why it did or didn’t work.
But this gets me into my next holdover from Bullet Journaling … Page Spreads.
This is not necessary, but I do find that adding spreads for things like upcoming astrological events is a really useful practice. Because they’re neatly labeled in the index, I can flip to them when I need to double check something. Of course if you’re doing intense astrological workings, I recommend checking your ephemeris. This is more for things like “is Mercury in Retrograde right now?” I also keep a log of the New and Full Moons in the same spread, for quick reference.
Really, a spread is just a page that you have set aside to hold specific information so that you can reference it later. You can make it as beautiful as you want, or as minimalist as you want. The point is not to create a beautiful piece of art — it is to create a functional journal you can use to track your magical experience. The most important thing to remember about this style of grimoiring is that it is functional first, beautiful second.
This next spread is to house those little slips of information you get when you buy a crystal at a metaphysical store. You know the ones. The ones that slip into the bottom of your bag, never to be seen again, leaving six-months-in-the-future you to wonder what kind of pretty rock this pretty rock is. I created this after realizing that I had lost the slip for a couple of crystals I was working with, and that I had completely forgotten their names. (Don’t worry — I was able to track them down again.)
I left space next to each of these little slips of paper so that I could make any notes on personal gnosis for working with these stones. If I have any thoughts I’ll be able to record them here. I don’t tend to buy very many crystals at all, so I’m not too worried about running out of space. If I do run out of space, I’ll make a new spread, put the new spread in the index, and make a note of the next spread’s page number on this page so it’s easy to find.
Since I started implementing these Bullet Journaling methods in my magical record, I’ve seen my own magical practice improve. I feel like I have so many more ideas, and a much better idea of what works and what doesn’t work in my personal practice.
That’s why I’ve partnered with Erin Alise from the Hollow Valley and Davis Carr of Meridian Tarot to create these grimoire kits!
I’ve created two kits: one is for witchcraft, another is for tarot journaling.
The Magical Record Grimoire Kit is the perfect tool to help you implement the system outlined in this article. The Daily Magic notepad includes space for your intention of the day, any astrological transits, actions, and a tarot pull. The Ritual Planner has space for you to write out any materials you need, steps/actions in the ritual, as well as observations over several different time frames.
The Tarot Journal Grimoire Kit is designed to help you amplify your tarot practice. Use the Tarot Tracker to track your tarot pulls over a given amount of time, and the Daily Tarot to record your daily readings and observations. The tarot is a beautiful tool for self reflection, and with this kit you can create a beautiful journal and window into your soul.
The notepads are also available separately, if you don’t want a full kit.
If you’re interested in booking a reading, or learning more about me, check out my website: northernlightswitch.com.
