Comparisons Between Witchcraft and Wicca
In Wicca, a book known as the Book of
Shadows
is used to record rituals and serves in some instances as a diary for
the coven or solitary practicioner. The first Book of Shadows was
written by Gerald Gardner, although there is
still much scandal concerning who actually wrote it, with a lot of
finger-pointing
toward Aleister Crowley and in some cases Doreen Valiente. The name,
Book of
Shadows, is used to refer to the so called witch hunt days and the need
for secrecy of the
religion, and thus an allusion is made to practicing within the shadows.
The term grimoire, or grammar, means essentially a book of learning and the name
seems to make sense as a universal term for this book.
|
Grammar: c. 1176, gramarye,
from O.Fr. grammaire "learning,"
especially Latin and philology, from L. grammatica,
from Gk. grammatike tekhne "art of
letters," with a sense of both philology and literature in the broadest
sense, from gramma "letter," from stem of
graphein
"to draw or write." Restriction to "rules of language" is a
post-classical development, but as this type of study was until 16th c.
limited to Latin, M.E. gramarye also came
to mean "learning in general, knowledge peculiar to the learned
classes" (c. 1320), which included astrology and magic; hence the
secondary meaning of "occult knowledge" (c. 1470), which evolved in
Scottish into glamour (q.v.). A grammar school (c. 1387) was originally "a school
in which the learned languages are grammatically taught" [Johnson, who
also has grammaticaster
"a mean verbal pedant"]. In the U.S. (c. 1860) the term was put to use in the
graded system for "a school between primary and secondary, where
English grammar is taught."
|
The name grimoire is not
the actual name which is used within any tradition. This name is used solely
because the real name of the book is secret, and so it serves as a point of
reference for the same item between traditions. The things which are written within
the book are religious rituals, amendments to those rituals, and other things which
have to do with the religion. Things related to magic are written in a different
book. It does not serve as a diary.
Most of the time, this book is hand written by the individual. In
some families,
this book is copied from what is referred to as a Great Book. Each
family may have their own name for such a book and still other families
retain no book or written manuscript and are entirely dependant upon an
oral tradition.
In most traditions, the grimoire is composed by the individual, and the rituals
contained therein are sometimes even written in runes (i.e. secret
letters) or pictures so as not to be understood by someone else. The rituals
themselves are based in the traditions and lore of the particular tradition, but
also contain individual flourishes as well. On occasion, the contents of the
grimoires are copied from a main book that is held by a family.
